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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28908045">Forever Original</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sprintingfox/pseuds/sprintingfox'>sprintingfox</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action &amp; Romance, Bipolar Disorder, F/M, Inspired by The Originals (TV), Inspired by The Vampire Diaries, Mental Health Issues, Psychopathology &amp; Sociopathy, Sprinting Fox, Vampires, Villain to Hero Kind Of, Witches</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:08:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>78</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>302,459</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28908045</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sprintingfox/pseuds/sprintingfox</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruthless, vicious, psychotic, the first of a pair of twins that were known for wreaking havoc anywhere their feet touched soil. The 'Original With No Sire Line' never expected she'd actually get along with her siblings, but returning to Mystic Falls appeared to have instigated the events that would leave her finally included in 'Always and Forever.'<br/>.<br/>with Taylor LaShae as Hilda Mikaelson<br/>.<br/>TVD S3 and onward, with flashbacks based on history shown in The Originals.<br/>.<br/>All credit for original characters and original plot goes to Julie Plec for The Vampire Diaries and The Originals television series. I own only my OCs and select scenes not from the show. Thank you Julie, for creating the series. Thank you all, for reading.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alaric Saltzman/Original Female Character(s), Hilda Mikaelson/Alaric Saltzman, Hilda Mikaelson/Tristan de Martel, Tristan de Martel/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>130</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>October 21, 2010</p>
<p>
  <strong>Prior to being woken up unceremoniously by her twin, Hilda Mikaelson was reverting to her usual coping methods.</strong>
</p>
<p>“Wake up, sister,” crooned her brother’s voice as she felt the dagger be removed from her chest. “We have a murder to carry out.”</p>
<p>The silence and darkness that ensued following being daggered was something she had always hated. It was an eternity of nothingness that fueled her anger each time she awoke. Stupid Nik. She’d have her revenge one day. She could only rely on her memories for any sort of solace, slipping into a state of dreaming where she could entertain herself and not feel so alone.</p>
<p>“Hilda!” Kol shook her and smacked her face. “You’re taking too long, sister.”</p>
<p>She opened her eyes, the grayish veins dissipating from her features. “What year is it?” she asked boredly as she sat up. </p>
<p>“How the bloody hell would I know that? Elijah just woke us. He even woke <em>Finn</em> up.”</p>
<p>Her dark eyes darted over his familiar roguish expression, searching for any sign that he was lying. If Finn was undaggered, it had to be important. She held out her arms, and Kol picked her up, setting her down. She brushed down the forest green dress that she’d been wearing for Christmas the night she and Kol had been daggered, in 1914, and looked over at his clothes, his gray shirt neatly tucked under his black suit vest.</p>
<p>“Not a single wrinkle,” she observed. “What’s happened? Did they decide we can control ourselves now, or what? By now, the paragon diamond will be long gone…”</p>
<p>Kol sighed dejectedly. “Let’s not think about the diamond, sister. Elijah hasn’t told us yet why we’re all awake. Hurry up, we’ve only been waiting for you."</p>
<p>She huffed and took his arm. The house they were in was completely unfamiliar, but judging by the paintings on the walls, it had been decorated under Klaus’s command. Kol escorted her to the drawing room, where Finn stood, his hair still hanging just over his shoulders, with his bloody and tattered shirt from the year 1114. Rebekah was donning a red strapless dress with her longer, curled blonde hair, and the familiar necklace that belonged to their mother. Elijah, as usual, was wearing a suit. There were two unfamiliar faces joining them— a devilishly handsome man with light blue eyes and disarrayed jet-black hair, and a tall blonde woman with a gold top, a black skirt, and fishnet leggings. The woman held a silver platter with four daggers.</p>
<p>“No time for explanations just yet,” said Elijah, adjusting his suit jacket. “We are safer, my brothers and sisters. Mikael is dead at Niklaus’s hand, but there is also something you should know. Our brother killed our mother, not Mikael.”</p>
<p>At this point, Hilda was used to being bombarded with major news each time she was awoken. There was always something that’d happened that she and Kol were made aware of whenever they had a small chance at freedom.</p>
<p>This, however, had yielded the most enraging blow.</p>
<p>Hilda couldn’t exactly say that she was closest with their mother, but perhaps besides Rebekah, she and Kol had respected Esther the most.</p>
<p>Born four minutes before her twin, Hilda was named by Mikael. His first daughter since Freya, who had died of plague, he was overjoyed to see that, just like Niklaus before her, Hilda had the fighting glance that made her stand out among his children. He named her ‘battle woman,’ and when she and Kol were old enough, began to train the twins to become just as strong as him.</p>
<p>They were magnificent. While Esther had suppressed Klaus’s potential in order to conceal that his father was really a werewolf, she had let the twins free, and they had excelled. Hilda was the apple of her father’s eye— the replacement for Freya that he’d been longing for ever since Esther had (unbeknownst to him) lied about what had really happened to his eldest daughter. She was agile and fierce despite being much smaller than her brothers. Even up to date, she was the shortest of her siblings, standing one inch below Rebekah, but she was certainly one of the strongest.</p>
<p>When Henrik was born, Hilda had been quite happy to have a baby brother, and she and Rebekah had spent quite a bit of time with Esther to tend to him. It was then that the girls began to learn about herbs and magic. Hilda and Kol had developed a particular interest in the spells, while Rebekah had fixated on remedies. The twins had realized soon after that they were prodigies. They learned spells without their mother’s help, and progressively began to spend less time training with Mikael and their brothers, and more time with their mother, asking to be taught more complicated rituals.</p>
<p>Hilda and Kol grew to resent Mikael when they reached their teen years and quite rarely joined him to train unless their siblings were joining them. Their father was insufferable. He criticized them for preferring magic to being warriors. He was excessively disappointed in Hilda for failing to meet his expectations of the perfect daughter. He believed that magic was weak, and in those minimal moments when they chose to spar with him, he acted violently, and left them bruised and battered. The twins eventually began to hate Mikael, watching how he tormented Klaus and was cruel to Elijah and Rebekah for defending him. When they learned that Klaus wasn’t Mikael’s son, they had stood by their brother, and Mikael had struck them each so hard in the face, that their cheeks were cut open. The twins never again spoke in a civil manner to their father.</p>
<p>It became worse for them when they were turned. The last thing that Hilda and Kol had wanted was to be vampires. They were struggling with grief at the loss of their youngest brother, and were dealing with Mikael’s abuse when simply trying to defend Klaus. Their transition had meant the loss of their magical powers. It was as though a switch had flipped on their brains, and they became insatiably violent. Murder and blood seemed to be the only way to give them the rush that magic had granted them. Losing their powers felt like they’d lost a part of their soul. </p>
<p>Craving more magic despite not being able to perform it, the twins ventured to Europe to continue learning about spells even if it would yield no benefit. However, they were soon informed that Mikael had killed Esther. Already furious at their father for forcing them to transition and having been so abusive, they fled with their siblings. Though the twins agreed with their eldest brother Finn that they should split up, they had remained together and had resided together in the castle of the Count de Martel. </p>
<p>
  <em>“There,” Lucien had told them, leading them into the grand interior of the castle once Rebekah had pleaded for them to go through with the charade, now dressed in the finest clothes that had previously belonged to true nobles. “See the Count de Martel? You address him as "Your Grace." All the other nobles as ‘my lord.’ And, when you speak to the Count, you should speak of hunting. He loves his horse and his hounds.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Lucien turned toward Rebekah and Hilda, who were standing on either side of Kol. “And, bow deep, Ladies Hilda and Rebekah. The Count relishes a… healthy cleavage.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hilda scowled. “Filthy bastard— he’s our father’s age. I won’t do it.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Then don’t, sister,” said Kol, following the lead of their three brothers and gazing up at the ceiling in wonder. “I’d rather that old fool doesn’t look at my sisters in that manner.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Lucien seemed to become more worried that they wouldn’t successfully fool the entire court. “For God’s sake, all of you, stop looking up!” He moved toward Kol and Hilda, pushing back a stray hair that’d fallen from where Kol had tied back his hair.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kol cast him a sickening smile. “Touch me again,” he whispered in a deadly voice, “and I’ll tear your arm straight off.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hilda giggled. “Come now, brother, you mean ‘arm,’ singular. The other is for me to tear off!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Behave, twins, or I’ll bury you in the ground to rot!” hissed Finn in annoyance as he looked back at them. Hilda playfully curtsied as Kol smirked toward the increasingly nervous Lucien.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Rebekah had gone pale. “This isn’t going to work, is it?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Just speak as we practiced,” said Lucien. “And know that you look lovely, my lady.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“‘You look lovely, my lady,’” mocked Hilda, making Kol snicker. “Shall I fondle your breasts to put you at ease?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“With what arms, peasant?” answered back Kol. Finn glared at them as they finally made their way to the throne of the Count de Martel. Lucien stepped forward and bowed dramatically before making the introductions.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Lucien, you were sent to fetch the Count de Guise!” said the Count in surprise. He wore a crown on his head, which made Hilda and Kol nudge each other to indicate that they each wanted to laugh in his face.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Indisposed, my Grace,” said Lucien, pausing awkwardly for a moment. “Gout.” He turned back to the siblings. “May I present his children? The Lords Finn, Niklaus, Elijah, and Kol. Also, the lovely Ladies Hilda and Rebekah.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>There was a very tense silence as the Count looked down at them suspiciously. </em>
  <em>The siblings looked around at each other before Elijah decided to step up. “Yes, Your Grace, do forgive us. Father was forever distant with his travels, and uh… we were largely raised by servants. However, I do know that Father would consider it a glorious honor that we should be introduced to society by your noble hand, Your Grace.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He bowed, and Klaus took several steps to end up at his side. “Your Grace, I look forward to hearing tales of your hunting escapades!” He gestured to Rebekah and Hilda. “May I present our sisters?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Rebekah gulped, pulling up at her blue skirt before smiling nervously at the Count. “Rebekah de Guise de Rockfort Francais.” She bowed deeply, and the Count very obviously gazed down at her bosom. “Charmed.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Klaus yanked Hilda forward when she didn’t step up, and smiling as fakely as she could muster, she bowed, though not as low as her sister. “Hilda de Guise, Your Grace.”</em>
</p>
<p>The twins had made their stay there pleasant. While Klaus was distracted with Aurora de Martel, the twins went out practically every night to feed. They were careless in how they left the bodies of their victims, but they paid it no heed. They wanted adventure, and a thrill that could only have from taking control over the lives of others. </p>
<p>Finn had criticized them nearly every night when they returned to go to bed. He scolded Hilda most of all, snarling that it would be her fault if they were caught. Thus, she made the sacrifice of following Rebekah around more often, and acting as ladylike as she could muster. This, of course, had helped to keep the ruse of their nobility up, as she caught the eye of the Count’s son, Tristan de Martel.</p>
<p>
  <em>“Don’t turn now,” whispered Rebekah one night when they were off chatting with some of the other ladies. “But that boy is looking at you again.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“No he isn’t, Bex,” hissed Hilda lowly, taking a sip from her goblet. “He’s a bloody lunatic obsessed to an unhealthy degree, with his sister.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Believe me, Hilda, he’s staring,” Rebekah said, peeking back over her shoulder. She then whipped her head back and her eyes widened. “He’s coming this way.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Well don’t act so scared!” Hilda said, though her own chest felt tight with anxiety. This was it— she’d say something utterly stupid and they’d need to run.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Lady Hilda.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She turned as calmly as she could, curtsying slightly at Tristan de Martel. “Lord Tristan,” she said softly. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Will you do me the honor of joining me for a dance?” he inquired, offering her his arm.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She tried to act as though she wouldn’t rather tear his throat out with her teeth. She took his arm delicately and cast Rebekah a look that practically screamed ‘help me,’ but of course, her sister was too excited to do anything.</em>
</p>
<p>And so had begun the first ever romance of Hilda Mikaelson. She had no experience, always having been cooped up with her mother, or out avoiding her father. Her brothers had all had their flings in the past, and even Rebekah had flirted with the boys they used to live near. But not Hilda. She preferred to learn something useful instead of associating with boys who were either too old for her, or felt too young. She was annoyed enough with her four brothers, and romance had never appealed to her.</p>
<p>Tristan had been her first everything. She had figured out that she really needn’t put much effort into it— she need just be herself, though censored. She acted as proper as she could, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway— Tristan had been far too consumed in her beauty to pay attention to her small slip ups where she’d curse or act completely improper. Hilda had begun to spend less time feeding with Kol, and more time engaged in conversation with Tristan. He intrigued her, with his fragility, and she learned that his obsession with his sister was rooted in their mother’s death— he felt he had to protect her and give her the affection their father could never provide. He had to monitor her because she had a tendency to be unhinged, and the last thing he wanted was to lose the only real family he had, since his father, like Mikael, was emotionally abusive, and only criticized him.</p>
<p>But that had all been short-lived. They had to flee soon after, once Kol’s antics had drawn too much attention to them. Elijah had secretly compelled Aurora and Tristan to break off their romances with Klaus and Hilda, respectively, and the Original siblings had run away unaccompanied. It broke Hilda’s heart, and she once again turned to murder.</p>
<p>They had learned, with Lucien and the de Martel siblings, that their blood could be used to heal, and in the event that a person died with the blood of an Original in their veins, they would be a vampire just like them. It had taken a very short time for them to become aware of the new power they held, and Kol had taken full advantage of it.</p>
<p>Hilda and Finn, however, had not found it even mildly intriguing. For one, Hilda liked the idea of killing. She wanted to see her victims taking their last breath. To know there was no returning. She thought it would be wrong to turn them, especially without their consent. Though she didn’t worry about whether they gave their consent for her to murder them (not that they would have), she felt guilt at the thought of condemning them to a similar fate. She already hated that she had been turned against her will, and had lost her magical abilities. Thus, Hilda and Finn grew rather close due to their refusal to turn a person into a vampire.</p>
<p>Finn had caved eventually. He met a woman, Sage, and had fallen so deeply in love that he had granted her wish of being turned. Hilda had resisted the temptation to do the same. It had not even gone well for Finn, in the end. Rebekah had fallen for a vampire hunter, Alexander, and the siblings had found themselves daggered for the first time ever. Klaus had not been kept down, and he had revived all but Finn, despising his criticisms. Hilda had been angry at him, since Finn was their family, but Klaus could no longer tolerate the virtuous attitude their eldest brother carried himself with, and had snarled that if Hilda continued to complain, he would dagger her so that she could join Finn.</p>
<p>Not eager to be separated from Kol, Hilda had ceased objecting. She and her brother split from the rest of their siblings, choosing to travel and gain even more magical knowledge. They’d passed through Africa in the 14th century, and Haiti in the 17th. They enjoyed their time in Arabia learning <em>Kemiya</em>, and had returned to meet their siblings in Spain, feeling satisfied with all the blood they’d drank along the way. Kol had turned a great deal more vampires in that time, but Hilda had still refused to turn any.</p>
<p>Even in 1702, the twins remained as careless as ever, littering bodies all over. They didn’t want to learn any self-control and they didn’t even want to travel with their siblings. They persisted on remaining apart, to make it easier to evade Mikael. Klaus and Elijah chastised them for this, and they felt obligated to spend time with them, but they refused to be on their best behavior in the meantime. </p>
<p>
  <em>“KOL! HILDA!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hilda looked up from the man she’d been feeding on, her mouth stained crimson. “You’re very late to the party.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Elijah glared at her. “All of my efforts to keep this family concealed, yet debauchery like this has led Father directly to us.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hilda rolled her eyes as Klaus shouted out angrily, “Kol! Show yourself! This is no time for games!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kol came stumbling in from the other room, feeding on a whimpering woman. He tore through her throat to silence her, and dropped the body carelessly on the floor. Everyone else in the cottage was dead, all except for the man Hilda had her fangs in. Sighing loudly as Kol held his hands out to his brothers, she snapped the man’s neck and threw him off her lap.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Come, come, brother!” said Kol enthusiastically. “It’s always time for games.” He reached for two mugs of alcohol and handed one to Hilda before lifting his, in a toast.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“We must leave,” said Elijah urgently as Hilda took a sip. “Mikael is very nearly upon us.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>The twins shared a look and burst out laughing. “If Mikael were upon us, Nik here would be quite dead,” said Hilda bluntly. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Not to mention, we’d be having a chat with Mikael, and not Elijah,” added Kol.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I barely escaped!” Klaus spat angrily. “Father left the head of my horse on a pike in the town square!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kol gasped mockingly, and Hilda giggled. “He killed poor Theo?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“What a beast!” Hilda chimed in.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“But then, Father’s always hated you most,” noted Kol thoughtfully.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“If you flee, he’ll chase you,” Hilda said. “Then we can stay here.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kol smirked. “Perhaps I’ll make myself mayor.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hilda downed the rest of her drink and threw the mug across the room, letting it shatter against the cottage walls. “Only if we get to live in that gorgeous house down the road!” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Elijah was unamused. “Rebekah and Finn have already boarded the ship. It is imperative that we remain together.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Finn boarded the ship?” gasped Hilda dramatically. “Does that mean he can walk? Oh no, wait, he’s got a dagger in his heart, doesn’t he?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Not to mention Rebekah only does what she’s told because she fears Nik,” Kol added, smiling wryly. “We’ll take our chances here.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He yanked at his sister’s arm, ready to leave, but Elijah and Klaus blocked their path. The twins knew immediately what their brothers were planning.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Klaus smiled smugly at them. “I find it amusing that you think you have a choice.” He extracted two daggers, holding them up for them to see. He handed one to Elijah.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Alright, fine, we’ll go with you,” blurted out Hilda, not wanting to be daggered. “Kol, let’s just—”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“No!” he spat. “No, you bastards don’t get to control where we go!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Elijah seized Kol by the shoulders, and he furiously thrashed in his arms, trying to get away, while Klaus did the same to Hilda, yanking her arms behind her back so that she couldn’t punch him.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“NO!” Kol bellowed as Elijah shoved the dagger into his heart. He yelled out in pain, panting heavily as he began to desiccate, “I swear to you— the day will come when we’re not so easily subdued!” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“And on that day,” snarled Hilda as she tried to kick Klaus off, “we will make you suffer!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Perhaps, sister,” said Klaus as he shoved the dagger into her chest, eliciting a scream of fury from her. “But today is not that day.”</em>
</p>
<p>They hadn’t awoken again until 1821. Over a century that they missed, unable to travel and feed. Apparently, they were really only undaggered because Klaus had gotten bored. They were given the liberty to massacre as many people as they wanted, and soon learned that the Compound their siblings now owned in New Orleans, Louisiana. They learned that Klaus had recently taken in a young boy, naming him Marcel.</p>
<p>Hilda had tried her best to be nice. After all, he was only a child, and she could never harm children. Though she didn’t have the same caring nature as Rebekah, she helped him learn to read. She was impatient, however, and often forgot that he was still young, and would snap at him as if he was one of her brothers, or forget herself and curse so vehemently, that she'd startle him. She’d always apologize, but she knew that she wasn’t exactly the most motherly influence to him. Even so, she tried her hardest to not make him feel out of place.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Kol was not warming up to Marcel in the same way. He remained bloodthirsty as ever, and one night, took it a step too far, feeding Marcel his blood as if intending to turn him. Hilda had been quite cross, and for once, had reprimanded him alongside Elijah and Klaus. She hadn’t been expecting for them to dagger Kol for it. As soon as she saw Klaus driving the dagger into her twin, she lost her head, and within seconds, was subdued by Elijah.</p>
<p>By the time they were awoken again in 1901, the twins harbored a great deal of resentment toward all of their siblings. The instant she awoke, Hilda made a beeline for Finn, planning to awaken him. Klaus was so furious, that he struck her in the face. </p>
<p>And so began the cruel vendetta against Niklaus Mikaelson. Hilda and Kol dove back into travels and research, intending to make a dagger that would work on him. In 1914, they were incredibly close. Despite the division of the New Orleans witches, they had several who were willing to help, and had secured a paragon diamond to aid in the spell. Hilda herself had written out the spell while Kol dictated their notes from their journeys. As luck would have it, they were ratted out, and Marcel and Klaus took the diamond.</p>
<p>Frantic and searching for it, they snuck off at that year’s Christmas party, intending to get their hands on the diamond and flee. They thought, when Rebekah caught them, that she would help keep it a secret. She, who had had half a century taken from her just because she fell in love with Marcel, and wanted to be with him.</p>
<p>Instead, she had ratted them out. </p>
<p>
  <em>“As you know,” Klaus announced to the guests after the Original siblings had posed for a family photograph, “when the Mikaelsons arrived in Louisiana, we brought with us the tradition of holiday bonfire season. Now, we invite you chosen few to join us in our family's own tradition of writing wishes for each other and burning them for luck. The holidays are a time for celebrating family, and friends.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Klaus had looked down at Marcel before looking up at the twins. Kol and Hilda shared a look of suspicion as their brother continued to speak, “It is especially gratifying in times when treachery runs deep. To know you have someone you can trust. A toast, to you, my sister.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>They tensed, seeing that Rebekah had smiled at Klaus. The party guests chimed in the words to the toast. Hilda grabbed onto Kol’s hand and the two made their way back up the stairs, only to have their path blocked by Elijah. They whirled back, and found Klaus and Marcel waiting. Elijah grabbed hold of Kol, while Marcel grabbed Hilda, the two men pinning the twins’ arms behind their backs. They struggled, looking down at the devilish smirk that their sister was sending their way as they were brought over to the balcony. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Ladies and gentlemen,” said Klaus loudly, “I apologize for the disturbance! But, what's a Mikaelson party without a little squabble?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He thrust the dagger into Kol’s heart, making him yell out as he began to desiccate. Frantic, Hilda tried to plead. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Nik, please,” she said. “Please, please—”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Unfortunately,” he said in a deadly voice, “you’re not my favorite sister. Sleep well, Hilda.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He shoved the dagger into her chest.</em>
</p>
<p>When they were desiccated and shoved into their coffins, Klaus had made an offhanded comment that both twins were fitting for the nickname, ‘Original Pain in the Ass.’ Rebekah and Elijah had laughed. Neither felt remorse.</p>
<p>And now here they were. </p>
<p>Elijah always like to say that it seemed like no time passed when they were in their daggered state. Rebekah agreed. But he had only been daggered for a few decades at the time. At most, she had been daggered for half a century. Hilda couldn’t imagine how poor Finn felt. For her and Kol, being daggered was profoundly irritating to a degree that their sister and brothers couldn’t understand.  </p>
<p>They were the problematic ones. The pair that their other siblings always subdued together, because even one alone was too much of a burden. They were the only ones who seemed to stand up for each other. Finn hated the lot of them, and Elijah and Rebekah worshipped Klaus like a bloody deity even though he’d robbed them of their freedom numerous times. Aside from Finn, Hilda and Kol had suffered quite a bit more than their other family members, but of course, no one took notice. No one cared. They had once adored their family. Now, they were completely divided. Truly, neither knew why they bothered to stick around.</p>
<p>Perhaps, that was why Elijah had chosen to be succinct, and drop the bomb on them right away.</p>
<p>“After all this time, Klaus torments us and daggered us whenever we opposed him,” said Hilda lowly, “and he’s the brute that murdered our mother?”</p>
<p>“She was no saint, but she was our bloody mother,” sneered Kol. Finn looked angriest of all. Rebekah and Elijah had apparently already known.</p>
<p>“Prepare to make your appearances,” said Elijah. “Niklaus does not know that you’ve been undaggered. Be ready to… surprise him.”</p>
<p>Rebekah went forward and took her dagger off the silver platter. “I’m keeping this.”</p>
<p>Elijah nodded, and the twins remained back with Finn as Elijah beckoned for the dark-haired man and the blonde servant to follow him into the next room, where they could clearly hear that Klaus was torturing someone.</p>
<p>“You really have given up, haven’t you?” Klaus snarled in the other room. “Where's the fight? Where's the Ripper?” He then faltered. “Elijah… why haven’t you left?”</p>
<p>“Where are your manners, brother?” said Elijah casually. “We forgot dessert.”</p>
<p>There was a pause, and the air felt tense with dread. “What have you done?” asked Klaus hoarsely.</p>
<p>“What have <em>you</em> done?” inquired Elijah. “You see, I've learned not to trust your vulgar promises, Klaus. We're doing this on my terms now.”</p>
<p>Kol and Hilda chose that moment to enter the room, greeted by the very shocked and terrified Klaus, who obviously hadn’t been wanting to see them anytime soon.</p>
<p>“H-Hilda,” stammered Klaus. “Kol…”</p>
<p>“Long time, brother,” Kol said lowly.</p>
<p>“Felt like at least a century, like last time, remember?” Hilda said, stepping forward as Klaus backed away.</p>
<p>Finn sped past them, grabbing one of the daggers off the platter and stabbing Klaus through the hand with it. The hybrid turned to the back exit, only to see Rebekah entering. </p>
<p>“Rebekah,” he breathed, as if pleading for her to help him.</p>
<p>Instead, she stabbed him right in the side. “This is for our mother,” she sneered as he staggered away from her. She pulled the dagger out, and Klaus stumbled back into Kol’s arms. Hilda plucked her dagger off the platter and came closer, pressing the blade under Klaus’s neck.</p>
<p>“You’re free to go,” said Elijah to the two unfamiliar men in the room. They seemed to be friends, or maybe brothers. “This is family business.”</p>
<p>“What should we do, Kol?” asked Hilda curiously when the only ones that remained in the room were all six of the siblings.</p>
<p>“Maybe we’ll cut his heart out, little by little,” mused Kol.</p>
<p>Hilda smirked. “We’ll take out one organ at a time. Starting from the most harmless one to remove, and we’ll see when it kills him…”</p>
<p>“As long as we go in alphabetical order after we take out his appendix and spleen.”</p>
<p>“And as long as we have him completely chained down.”</p>
<p>“And as long as we can keep him bleeding the entire time.”</p>
<p>“Twins,” said Elijah sharply. “Release him. We’re going to have a chat before we get to any disembowelment.”</p>
<p>“Killjoy,” said Hilda under her breath as Kol released Klaus, who staggered toward the fireplace.</p>
<p>Rebekah began to walk around the room, observing how it had been decorated. “I like what you’ve done with the new place, Nik,” she said, picking up a vase at throwing it at one of the paintings on the wall, bringing it crashing down.</p>
<p>“I wanted it to be for all of us,” said Klaus in a strained voice. “A place we could all call home. A place we could all be a family. None of us would ever have to be alone again.”</p>
<p>Elijah walked toward the doorway. “Well, you’re right, none of <em>us</em> will be.”</p>
<p>“You’re staying behind,” said Finn venomously.</p>
<p>“We're leaving you, Nik,” added Rebekah maliciously. “Right after I kill that doppelgänger wench, then you will be alone. Always and forever.”</p>
<p>“Even better if we get to murder someone,” Hilda mused, leaning onto Kol.</p>
<p>“And leave him stranded simultaneously,” her twin noted.</p>
<p>Klaus glared at them. “If you run, I will hunt all of you down.”</p>
<p>“Then you’ll become everything you hate,” said Elijah pointedly. “Our father.”</p>
<p>Klaus snapped. “I’m the hybrid!” he shouted furiously. “I can't be killed! I have nothing to fear from any of you.”</p>
<p>“You will when we have that coffin,” Elijah replied.</p>
<p>Behind them, a door opened. The siblings turned, and their mouths promptly dropped open, seeing who it was. Her hair fell nearly to her waist. Her dress, green and more ancient than the outfit Finn had on.</p>
<p>“Mother?” whispered Rebekah.</p>
<p>Esther ignored them. Walking between them, she moved toward Klaus, who kept his eyes downcast in shame.</p>
<p>“Look at me,” she said sharply, causing him to glance up. “Do you know why I’m here?”</p>
<p>Klaus had begun to tear up. “You’re here to kill me.”</p>
<p>Esther did not nod or even shake her head. “Niklaus, you are my son and I am here to forgive you. I want us to be a family again.”</p>
<p>Hilda and Kol shared a look.</p>
<p>Always and forever never quite lasted longer than a few decades.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Apparently, Esther’s idea of being a family again involved a stupid party.</strong>
</p><p>“Who the hell does she think she is?” snarled Hilda once she and Kol had picked their rooms for the remainder of their stay there. Klaus had gone off to sulk, likely, and Rebekah had gone out on an ‘errand.’ “She wants to throw a bloody party as if we aren’t all angry with each other.”</p><p>“You know Mother, she has high hopes that we’ll get along, but she has no idea what Nik put us through these past thousand years,” sneered Kol. He looked up at the ceiling and bellowed, “Finn!”</p><p>The door opened seconds later. “You two are just as obnoxious as ever,” their eldest brother said with a scowl. </p><p>Hilda held up a pair of scissors she’d found. “Be grateful we’re fixing you up, you prat.”</p><p>“Don’t leave me looking like a heathen, Hilda,” he said in a warning tone as he sat down on a nearby chair.</p><p>“Did you find out what bloody year it is, or not?” she said impatiently as she put a nearby towel around his shoulders, bringing back his hair.</p><p>“Yes. The year 2010, and it’s nearing the end of the month of October.”</p><p>Hilda and Kol grimaced at each other. “So four years away from being daggered for exactly another century.”</p><p>“Be grateful you weren’t left for nine hundred ruddy years in a box,” Finn growled. </p><p>Kol and Hilda rolled their eyes before Hilda began to cut Finn’s hair. “And you two better hold your tongues,” Finn advised. “I’d rather not ruin Mother’s plans.”</p><p>“The sycophant as always,” Kol said. “When will you ever get tired of kissing mummy’s arse all the time?”</p><p>Finn shot up, and Hilda swore loudly. “Now it’s going to have to be shorter than you wanted,” she snapped, yanking him harshly back into the chair.</p><p>“Mind you, Kol, I can still beat you in a fight,” Finn said as he leaned back for Hilda.</p><p>“After nine hundred years daggered? If Hilda and I are sore after each century, I can’t imagine how brittle your puny limbs are feeling.”</p><p>“I swear to all the gods, Finn, if you move again—”</p><p>“Shut up, Hilda!” snarled Finn.</p><p>“Don’t spat at her like that!” Kol hissed.</p><p>“Children.”</p><p>They looked up to see Esther in the doorway. She looked down at her eldest. “Your sister is being kind enough to cut your hair. Appreciate it.”</p><p>“Yes, Mother,” said Finn grudgingly.</p><p>Esther gazed over at the twins. “Just as fiery as I remember you. I hear you’ve been learning magic over the centuries.”</p><p>“Can’t practice it, though, can we?” Kol muttered. “You took our magic.”</p><p>Hilda motioned for him to stop. “Let’s not argue that right now,” she said. “If I fuck up Finn’s hair again, he might have to attend the party bald.”</p><p>“Good,” said Esther cordially. “Attempt to get along. It’s one night of formalities. Afterwards, I shall not ask you to attend any other events of that nature. Understood?”</p><p>The three looked away. “Yes, Mother.”</p><p>The witch nodded to them and stepped out. Finn scoffed, and Kol kicked the edge of the bed. Once Hilda had finished cutting her elder brother's hair, she beckoned him out of the room and got to cleaning the mess left behind, tossing it in the nearest trash bin.</p><p>“I hate parties after what happened in 1914,” said Hilda as she went to sit on Kol’s bed. “How do we know we won’t be murdered this time?”</p><p>“The last of the White Oak was used by Nik to kill our father,” said Kol. “Not to worry, sister. After this, we’ll be free.”</p><p>Hilda slumped back into the mattress. “We should take two of the daggers with us when we leave. He’ll have to keep the other three if our siblings step out of line.”</p><p>“Maybe with Mother here, he won’t dare dagger us again,” Kol reasoned.</p><p>“I can’t believe that ninety six years have passed. Our spell, the diamond…”</p><p>“We’ll fix everything. Find a witch. Rewrite the spell. They can take our freedom but not the memories of the magic we learned. We worked like dogs to learn every form on the planet. No one can burn that out of our brains.”</p><p>She patted his arm. “Sleep well, brother. Once that idiotic party is over, we should go on a fun little killing spree.”</p><p>He smirked. “I’ll take you up on that.”</p><p>They just had to tolerate their siblings for an entire day. </p><p>The Mikaelson twins were known for being too aggressive. Too bloodthirsty. Though Hilda had more control, and had not yet turned anyone with her blood, she lost all restraint when Kol was with her. Alone, each twin still posed a terrible threat to any enemies. They were incredibly strong and fast, rivaling their elder brothers very well in a fight. If they were hybrids, they would have certainly been the most deadly out of all their siblings. </p><p>The following morning, compelled servants were bustling around with decorations, and fitting Finn and Kol into suits. Hilda let herself sleep in, and arrived in the parlor to see Rebekah getting her nails painted. Kol was adjusting his newly tailored suit in front of the mirror.</p><p>“Ah, Hilly, you’re up,” he said, putting his hands on his hips. “Tell me how handsome I am.”</p><p>“If you weren’t my brother, I’d enter you in a contest for ‘Ugliest Face On The Planet,’” she said sweetly, fake-curstying. “We all know I’m the good-looking twin.”</p><p>“No, because you look most like Elijah and Finn, with the dark hair. That makes you ugly. Rebekah— tell me I look handsome.”</p><p>“Oh, Kol, you know I can’t be compelled,” she answered, smirking up at her sister, and making even Finn smirk.</p><p>“The three of you never fail to drive me insane,” he noted as the servant adjusted his dress pants. </p><p>“You’re just jealous we look so young and hot,” Hilda said, standing near one of the servants and beckoning the woman over. “Now, I want something tight-fitting. Open back, maybe, but not strapless.”</p><p>The woman moved back to a rack of dresses that she could choose from. “Just don’t pick anything green,” called out Rebekah. “Mine is a darker green charmeuse, with one off the shoulder strap, and a mermaid-style bottom with ruffles.”</p><p>The woman reached for the dress Rebekah had described, showing it to her so that she could see it.</p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes. “You only picked green because you saw I was wearing green yesterday.”</p><p>“It suits my blonde hair better.”</p><p>“No it doesn’t. Your color is red.”</p><p>“Well, I want green.”</p><p>“Sisters, can we not do this?” Kol said. “Just take another color, Hilda. Bex can be embarrassed later when she realizes that green is certainly not her type.”</p><p>Rebekah scowled, and Hilda grinned mischievously. “If you have something that’s chiffon or organza fabric, bring it over, darling,” she said to the woman as she looked through the dresses. </p><p>Finn looked up. “For reference, Mother’s dress is that blue, almost black, crêpe and viscose hanging at the corner.”</p><p>“So I can’t have blue either?” grunted Hilda. “Fine. Get something black. I’ll pretend I’m attending a bloody funeral.”</p><p>The woman returned with a black satin halter-top with thin straps, which would leave Hilda’s entire back open, and fit tight down to her ankles, with a slit starting in her upper thigh.</p><p>“Absolutely perfect,” she said, holding out her arms so that she could grab it and try it on in her room.</p><p>“REBEKAH!”</p><p>They turned to see Klaus storming in. “You went after Elena?” he snarled. “What is wrong with you?!”</p><p>“Here we go,” sighed Rebekah.</p><p>“Do you want another dagger in your heart?” he spat.</p><p>Hilda scoffed. “Again with the dagger threats?”</p><p>“Haven’t you <em>any</em> other tricks?” Kol inquired.</p><p>“Oh, go back to staring at yourself,” Klaus hissed.</p><p>“And who are you, my father?” </p><p>“No, Kol, but you’re in my house!”</p><p>“Then perhaps we should go outside.”</p><p>The two stepped forward, glaring at each other and daring the other to throw the first punch. </p><p>“Enough!” Esther strode in, looking disappointed. “Niklaus. Come.”</p><p>Reluctantly, Klaus shuffled off. Hilda flipped him off behind his back and took the dress to her room.</p><p>Once she established that the dress indeed fit her, she decided on some black cut-out heels that she found in Rebekah’s room, and spent the rest of the time in front of some new device called a computer, absorbing information about what she’d missed, which was quite easy with this internet thing. She even found out how many hairstyle options she had, and how she could do her makeup. She watched something called a YouTube video to learn how to do her eyeliner to go along with something called ‘smoky eye.’ She probably should have gone into town or compelled a servant to help her understand things, but she figured everything out easily enough. </p><p>Just before seven o’clock, she came downstairs to where her siblings were already getting themselves drinks. When the hour hit, guests began piling in, with cars moving consistently through the front driveway to drop off women with poofy dresses and men with slicked back hair. Hilda remained at Kol’s side, not knowing anyone, until she caught sight of the familiar blue-eyed man from the night before, speaking with a bit of an older looking woman.</p><p>“Who’s that he’s talking to?” she whispered to her brother as they walked up casually.</p><p>“According to Elijah, that’s the mayor,” said Kol. The twins moved to the pair, and Kol took the woman’s hand, kissing it. “Mayor Lockwood. We haven't formally met. Kol Mikaelson. I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it.”</p><p>Hilda shook her hand next. “Hilda Mikaelson,” she said. “Pleasure to meet you.”</p><p>The blue-eyed man held out his hand between the twins. “Damon Salvatore,” he said. “Have we met?”</p><p>Neither twin seemed appealed with him just shoving his palm forward before they chose to direct their attention to him.</p><p>“I’ve met a lot of people,” said Kol with a cheeky smile, not shaking Damon’s hand. “And you don’t particularly stand out.”</p><p>He walked off, and Hilda tucked her hands behind her back. “In this house,” she said, looking at him fixedly, “we’re the ones who decide when we shake hands. However important you think you are… you’re not.” She smirked and extended her hand. “Now, this is where the introductions happen.”</p><p>“Ah, so you’re as much of a diva as your sister,” he said, shaking her hand. </p><p>Hilda cast him a mischievous grin. “No, darling. I’m <em>worse</em>.”</p><p>But Damon was no longer paying attention to her. He was looking at the doorway, where a girl had entered wearing an exquisite dress, filled with sparkles. Instantly, Hilda knew that that was Elena— the Petrova doppelganger. She looked just like Tatia and Katherine.</p><p>“Excuse me, Mayor,” said Damon before walking over to the girl. It seemed, after a few more seconds of observation, that he was quite interested in her. However, another male had walked up— the brother. It sounded as though his name was Stefan. Hilda recalled now, that she had heard Rebekah mentioning him. </p><p>“I can’t believe it,” she said under her breath. “Another pair of brothers fighting over the doppelganger. Why the hell does this keep happening…”</p><p>She walked past the confused mayor and went to Kol, who had gotten them some glasses of alcohol.</p><p>“You look quite cross,” her twin observed. </p><p>“Well, I thought, just maybe, I’d have a shot with Damon,” she grumbled. “After all, Stefan took Rebekah’s fancy. But they’re both mad for that Elena girl…”</p><p>“Pity, sister,” sighed Kol. “Ask him to dance later. I’ll ask the doppelganger to dance, if it leaves him available.”</p><p>She half-smiled. “Sweet of you, but there’s no need. I’ll be close enough. I’ll pull him away on my own.”</p><p>She peered back over her shoulder and saw Klaus speaking with a blonde that wore a gorgeous blue dress. “Is that the girl that Elijah alluded to?” whispered Hilda. “The young vampire that caught Nik’s eye?”</p><p>“I would think so,” mused Kol. “She’s pretty. But blondes aren’t my type. Brunettes, however…” he finished his glass before walking over to a fairly young girl who was near the entrance. </p><p>Hilda sighed, and went over to Finn, who was surveying the scene. “Come to bother me, have you?” he inquired.</p><p>“Kol’s gone off to find himself a little toy for tonight,” she grumbled. “I’ve no one to talk to.”</p><p>“If you weren’t so hostile, you might have a chance to make a friend.”</p><p>“A friend? That’s hilarious, Finn.”</p><p>“There are many here who could occupy you,” said Finn, taking a small sip. He nodded over to where Elena had gone to get a drink. </p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “Hmm. Let’s go meet her.”</p><p>She pulled at his arm, bringing him along. “Elena Gilbert,” said Hilda, looking her over. “Petrova doppelganger. My, the universe just never gets tired of making copies of that face…”</p><p>Elena smiled awkwardly. “Sorry… and you are?”</p><p>“Hilda Mikaelson,” she said, nodding to her. “And my brother, Finn Mikaelson.”</p><p>She then peeked back and saw Damon was alone for a brief moment. “Excuse me.”</p><p>She left Finn to speak with Elena and strode toward Damon, but didn’t make it before Elijah went up to the staircase. “Uh, if everyone could gather, please.”</p><p>Frustrated, Hilda abandoned her pursuit and strode up past Rebekah, Elijah, and Klaus, standing higher than them. Kol trotted up the stairs to her other side, and Finn came up beside Rebekah. From the upper room came Esther, nearest the top.</p><p>“Welcome,” said Elijah. “Thank you for joining us. You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom.”</p><p>“I already have my brunette picked out,” Kol said, nudging his sister. He looked down at the people moving around the hall. “Ah… it appears the doppelganger is already set to dance with Damon.”</p><p>Hilda looked down to see that Kol was right. Damon was leading Elena to the next room. Off to the side, she could see Stefan, looking dejected. </p><p>Holding up her skirt, she strode down the stairs and went to him, grabbing his arm. “You're my partner now,” she said bluntly. “If you have a problem with that… well, I don’t give a bloody fuck.”</p><p>“I don’t dance,” was all he said as she dragged him in as the music started.</p><p>“You do now,” she said before taking his arms as needed for the dance.</p><p>Obviously, Stefan really hadn’t wanted to dance, but then again, neither did Hilda. They moved to the music, both of them looking off to the side in intervals, where Damon and Elena were. </p><p>Hilda caught a glimpse of Kol with the brunette girl from earlier. She saw Rebekah with a blond boy— he appeared to be human. Klaus was with the blonde girl from before. Elijah and Finn each had some random partner that Hilda recognized even less.</p><p>The music changed, and it came time to switch partners. Stefan made a beeline for Elena, and Hilda moved toward Damon, only to have someone obstruct her path.</p><p>“My turn,” said Rebekah, her back turned to her sister even though she’d obviously seen her. Damon twirled her, and Rebekah cast Hilda a look.</p><p>Gritting her teeth, she glared at her sister and walked right off the dance floor.</p><p>It was always what the others wanted. Rebekah always wanted first dibs on everything, and it took every ounce of control in Hilda to not brawl her for it. Klaus always wanted to decide who got to be awake, and Elijah supported him. Kol and Hilda’s desires were always shoved aside, and Finn had never even had much of a say.</p><p>“I want to kill someone,” Hilda growled to Kol when the dance ended.</p><p>“Is it really going that bad?” he inquired.</p><p>“Bex quite literally ‘cockblocked’ me. That’s the expression they use now.”</p><p>Kol scrunched up his nose. “So, ‘cockblock’ her back. Go after that wimp she was dancing with.”</p><p>At that moment, Rebekah walked up. “Where’s your date?” inquired Kol.</p><p>“Flirting with his ex,” she grumbled.</p><p>Hilda glared at her as Kol said, “You’ve changed, Bex. You know, settling for mortals is the first sign of weakness.”</p><p>“I’m not settling,” said Rebekah coldly. “I brought him here to kill him. He's Elena's friend. If he dies she suffers. But I've already been scolded once so I was hoping you'd help your baby sister out.”</p><p>Hilda raised an eyebrow, now intrigued. “Really? Why?”</p><p>“I’ll set you up with Damon if you help me. I prefer his brother, either way. I simply wanted the hottest one to make Matt jealous. Come on. You can kill Matt.”</p><p>Hilda thought it over. “Well, you do know how to offer up a fun present…”</p><p>“We’d be spitting right in the face of mother’s rules,” said Kol wistfully. “I’m in.”</p><p>Rebekah smirked. “Good. Wait just a bit.”</p><p>The twins waited right in the foyer, drinks in hand. They observed the people milling about. Everyone looked so fragile. Hilda could imagine how good their blood tasted now that they were drinking and feeling happy.</p><p>“There’s no one actually interesting here,” she said glumly after about half an hour of Rebekah failing to show her face. “What the bloody hell am I to do?”</p><p>“Desiccate,” Kol said seriously. “Just leave the party. Find someone out in town to feed on.”</p><p>“Ugh, you’d think they’d have invited better guests. It’s been nearly a century since we had some proper blood and fun…”</p><p>“Compel someone to aid you with your needs.”</p><p>“Kol, you’re disgusting. I may be a psychotic maniac, but I will <em>not</em> compel someone to sleep with me.”</p><p>“Why not? It’s not like you can’t wipe their memories.”</p><p>“That’s wrong. I have enough of a moral compass to understand that.”</p><p>He rolled his eyes. “Have it your way, if you want to be boring. Oh, look, there’s Bex.”</p><p>The twins walked to her immediately. “We’re itching to kill something,” Kol said. “What are we waiting for?”</p><p>“The mayor cornered me,” she grumbled. “Give me fifteen minutes to lure Matt outside?”</p><p>“Fifteen minutes?” Hilda groaned. </p><p>“And why outside?” demanded Kol.</p><p>“We should do it right here on the stairs,” Hilda suggested.</p><p>“Make a spectacle of it,” Kol added.</p><p>“You two sound like idiots,” Rebekah said, rolling her eyes. “Mother would kill you if you ruined her party. See you outside.”</p><p>The twins made faces at her, but walked outside regardless, waiting behind some of the bigger cars that were parked on the grass.</p><p>Less than fifteen minutes had passed when they finally saw Rebekah coming outside with Matt. </p><p>“So… what are we doing out here?” he asked.</p><p>“Just taking a break from the polite chit-chat,” Rebekah answered.</p><p>“It’s freezing,” he said. “Let me get my coat.”</p><p>He approached a very shitty looking blue pickup truck, opening the door and extracting his jacket. Kol and Hilda inched forward as Rebekah asked, “This is your car?”</p><p>“Yep,” answered Matt. “If I could compel myself a Maserati, I would. But I can't.” He draped the jacket around Rebekah’s shoulders.</p><p>She blushed. “Oh, I’m a vampire— we don’t… thanks.” She looked around, and seemed to sense exactly where Kol and Hilda were standing. “Let’s go back inside. I got all the fresh air I need.”</p><p>Kol and Hilda looked at each other in disbelief as Rebekah led Matt back inside.</p><p>“Bullshit,” Hilda said coldly once they disappeared from view. “I was promised blood.”</p><p>“And you shall have it, sister,” Kol said, crossing his arms. “We’ll get him. And it’ll be inside. I want everyone to see it.”</p><p>“Good,” she said as they strode back into the house, but were unable to carry anything out until after Esther took to the staircase, looking around at her guests.</p><p>“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” she said. “Waiters are coming around with champagne. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass.”</p><p>Hilda and Kol each took a glass, standing closer to Finn, who looked almost excited. </p><p>Esther held up her own glass. “It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one. I'd like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers!”</p><p>“Cheers,” the crowd said. Hilda and Kol clinked their glasses together before taking a drink, each downing their glasses in two gulps.</p><p>“There’s Bex,” muttered Kol once the crowd began to speak amongst themselves again.</p><p>The twins moved toward their sister. “We waited for you outside,” said Hilda in a low voice.</p><p>“Where’s Matt?” asked Kol.</p><p>Rebekah looked uncomfortable. “About that, I, uh...I changed my mind. I don't want to ruin Mother's night.”</p><p>Kol was disgusted. “Don't tell me you like this boy. What did he do? He gave you five seconds of his attention? Don't be so predictable Rebekah.”</p><p>Rebekah glared at him. “You don't have to be rude about it. Just leave him be, okay?”</p><p>“Absolutely no promises,” Hilda said under her breath as Rebekah walked away.</p><p>Kol nudged Hilda. “Lure him upstairs. I’ll be waiting.”</p><p>She nodded, and sped closer to Matt, before Rebekah could reach him.</p><p>“Matt, is it?” she said calmly, linking her arm in his and leading him around the back hallway toward the other staircase. “You’re the boy my sister has taken a fancy to.”</p><p>“Er— yeah,” he replied, obviously surprised that Hilda was paying him any attention. </p><p>“Hilda Mikaelson,” she told him, patting his elbow. </p><p>Matt awkwardly nodded. “Nice to meet you.”</p><p>Hilda smirked and walked him over to the upstairs balcony, where Kol was leaning against the wall.</p><p>“Good evening,” he said to Matt as Hilda let go of him. “You’re Rebekah’s friend. We haven’t met.”</p><p>“Matt Donovan,” said the blonde, stretching out his hand.</p><p>“Kol Mikaelson,” replied the Original, taking his hand. He squeezed the boy’s hand so tightly, that a cracking sound was heard. Matt cried out in pain, dropping to the floor,and Hilda grabbed his neck. “This won’t hurt at all, darling.”</p><p>But she was suddenly yanked back, and shoved aside, nearly tossing her over the railing. “Hey, hey, hey, hey!” said Damon from behind her. “Easy— the guy’s a quarterback.”</p><p>Kol growled, and lunged at Damon, but Damon managed to throw him off the balcony. He jumped down, and Hilda followed just as Damon punched Kol and snapped his neck before he could get up.</p><p>Hilda snarled and lunged at Damon, sending him crashing to the pavement. She grabbed him by the hair and bashed his head into the ground.</p><p>“Let me guess,” panted Damon as he elbowed her back. “This is the part where you’re worse.”</p><p>“That’s right,” she said, as he managed to throw her off. By then, the doors had opened as the guests heard the commotion, and the other Original siblings rushed out alongside Elena and Stefan as Damon punched Hilda right in the face.</p><p>“Damon!” yelled Stefan, pulling him off. “Are you crazy?”</p><p>Hilda staggered up, wiping her bloody mouth as Damon glared at his brother. “Maybe a little. Far be it from me to cause a problem.”</p><p>He strode off, and Hilda made to jump at him, but Elijah caught her. “Control yourself,” he said sharply. </p><p>“He snapped Kol’s neck!” she spat.</p><p>“He broke Matt’s hand!” yelled back Damon before he sped off.</p><p>Hilda’s eyes flashed darkly, and Elijah shook her. “Don’t you dare,” he said. “The last thing we need right now is for you to go on a rampage.”</p><p>“Yes, that’s right, because I’m just the psychotic little sister that needs to be suppressed so she doesn’t succumb to her impulses!” she snapped as she shook him off. “God forbid I show my dark side when someone takes down my twin brother!”</p><p>Elijah pointed a finger at her. “Get him to his room. I do not want to see you at the party anymore.”</p><p>“Why am I the one that always gets in trouble?” she said as she pulled Kol up. “I’ve behaved better than all of you. I’ve never turned <em>anyone</em>. I have more control than the lot of you put together!”</p><p>Elijah’s jaw twitched. “Go to your room, now.”</p><p>“You’re not my father,” Hilda growled.</p><p>“No. I am not Mikael. He would have struck you.”</p><p>Glaring at him hatefully, she sped to Kol’s room with his limp body in tow, dropping him on his bed. She put her hand on his wrist, entering his mind.</p><p>“That went as well as expected,” he mused when he sensed her presence. They were on a sandy beach, and Kol had a mimosa in his hand.</p><p>“It’s always us that they insult,” she hissed. </p><p>“They’ve done worse things,” Kol added. “Yet we’re the bad ones… seriously. Klaus compelled people to kill each other. Elijah’s got his dark side hidden away in his subconscious. Did you unleash?”</p><p>“No, he stopped me. I would have. I can’t control it.”</p><p>“And that, my dear sister, is what makes them fear us so much. For some reason, the both of us can’t stop our anger once it reaches a certain level, and we lose all control. Real bloody psychopaths.”</p><p>Hilda cursed in her mind. “I’m going to go find Damon. Maybe I’ll kill him.”</p><p>She loved to be the villain.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda was murderous the next day.</strong>
</p><p>Rebekah had come home just before afternoon, her hair messed up and her dress ripped.   </p><p>“Well, well, well, there’s our girl,” said Kol, clapping dramatically. Klaus looked up from where he was sketching, and Hilda stood to come closer to her sister.</p><p>“Who was it, Bex?” she asked curiously. “Out all night…”</p><p>“Get out of my way, Hilda,” she said irritably.</p><p>“Snappy retort,” noticed Kol. “Was it that commoner, Matt?”</p><p>“If you two don’t shut your mouths, the next thing to come out of it will be your teeth!”</p><p>Klaus grinned at this, and Rebekah rounded on him. “Don’t start, Nik!”</p><p>“I didn’t say anything,” Klaus said innocently.</p><p>Hilda leaned onto Rebekah’s shoulder. “Come on, Bex, tell us who it was. I’m bored, and I want some entertainment. We can go meet your new beau.” </p><p>Rebekah pushed her off. “Shut up, Hilda!”</p><p>“At least you’re having fun,” said Kol. “So much fun, that you’re secretive about it…”</p><p>Klaus raised his eyebrows. “There is nothing stopping you from having fun. Go on, have at it.”</p><p>“It’s boring to go by ourselves,” sighed Hilda.</p><p>Kol perked up. “Join us, Nik! It’s the least you can do after sticking a dagger in our hearts.”</p><p>Klaus conceded. “Okay. Why not? I didn't have nearly enough to drink last night, what with you trying to murder Rebekah's date.”</p><p>“Well, we would have succeeded, if Damon hadn’t interrupted us,” Hilda said lowly.</p><p>At the mention of Damon, Hilda caught a slight twitch in Rebekah’s lips. The brothers went silent, as they had noticed it too.</p><p>“Hilly, we should go and get some drinks,” suggested Kol after a tense moment when Rebekah turned to look at Hilda.</p><p>But she wasn’t listening. “You slept with him?” sneered Hilda.</p><p>“So what if I slept with him?” Rebekah exclaimed. “You haven’t marked him as yours, have you, sister? I’m at perfect liberty to!”</p><p>“You quite obviously saw that I was interested in him! You didn’t even end up setting me up with him—”</p><p>“Maybe if you weren’t such a deranged twat, you’d have gotten him yourself! Oh, wait, the last time you had a serious relationship was a thousand years ago!”</p><p>Hilda balled up her fists. “Careful where you tread, Rebekah, because you don’t want to go there.”</p><p>Rebekah’s eyes flashed darkly. “Ashamed you have no experience? Embarrassed you haven’t slept with anyone since the eleventh century? Since Tristan? You don’t know how to speak with men, Hilda, you’re just not desirable enough—”</p><p>Kol leapt up to pull his twin back. “No, let me hit her," snarled Hilda, "she’ll see she got herself into a bloody mess—”</p><p>“Oh, yes," Rebekah chortled, "you may be very good at fighting, but you’re not good enough when it comes to attracting some fun—”</p><p>“Rebekah,” Elijah said warningly.</p><p>“What, Elijah?” she snapped. “If Hilda wants to act hurt, she should have tried harder, instead of being an unattractive, homicidal lunatic!”</p><p>“I’LL SHOW YOU HOMICIDAL!” screeched Hilda, thrashing so erratically that Klaus and Elijah had to help Kol hold her back. </p><p>“Let’s go to the bar, sister, come on,” said Klaus. Though she was still fuming curses at Rebekah, the brothers dragged her out of the house.</p><p>Hilda was still swearing and murmuring about the different ways she could torture Rebekah by the time they arrived at the Mystic Grill, though she had calmed down a significant amount.</p><p>“Best behavior, both of you,” said Klaus sternly as they entered. There weren’t many people, but one pair stood out— a man and a woman seated at the bar.</p><p>“Why can’t I remember anything about the attack?” asked the man. </p><p>“Your CT scans were clear,” the woman answered. “Maybe you were compelled to forget.”</p><p>“Wait… you think the killer’s a… a vampire?”</p><p>“There are no other suspects. It’s the obvious conclusion.”</p><p>Klaus chose that moment to walk right up beside them. “Oh, come now,” he said with a smug look. “Let's not go blaming the new family in town just because you lot have got yourselves a killer at large. Don't mind us. My brother, sister, and I are just here to let off some steam, right twins?”</p><p>“Right,” answered Kol. He was staring over at the woman, a slender brunette with deep brown eyes. “What’s your name, beautiful?”</p><p>The woman was obviously uncomfortable, and chose not to answer, getting up and walking away.</p><p>“Idiot,” Hilda hissed over at Kol. “You creeped her out.” She turned back to the man as he got out of his seat to follow the woman. </p><p>She was attracted immediately.</p><p>Tall, with an athletic build. Handsome and casual with blue eyes. He just looked intelligent, and Hilda felt herself leaning toward him. </p><p>“What’s your name?” she asked more casually compared to her brother. “I feel as though I know you from somewhere.”</p><p>He cast Klaus a look before gazing at her. “You should ask your brother. He kind of possessed my body back in April.”</p><p>He walked off, and Hilda whipped her head back at Klaus. “Excuse me?”</p><p>Klaus chuckled, and motioned for the bartender to bring him a drink. “Yes, yes, just a small body jumping moment. Nothing to worry about. His name is Alaric Saltzman. I believe I killed his girlfriend in order to become a hybrid. He’s the disheveled guardian of Elena and her brother, Jeremy.”</p><p>Hilda looked displeased. “Dick,” she spat, looking back to where Alaric and the woman were playing pool. “I don’t suppose you know who that is? The girl he’s with?”</p><p>“I have no idea, but I’ll find out,” said Kol as three drinks were served for them. Still looking over at the man, Hilda sat down. </p><p>“What can you tell me about him?” she prompted.</p><p>Klaus seemed more than happy to tell her. “He’s a history teacher at the high school. His ex-wife is the birth mother of Elena. His late girlfriend was the girl’s aunt.”</p><p>“Wow, that’s a lot to take in,” said Hilda as she downed her drink. She patted her brothers on the back. “Stay here and be good. I’m going to talk to him.”</p><p>“See if you can get that girl’s name,” said Kol eagerly.</p><p>“No promises,” Hilda called back as she went over to the pool tables. She leaned against the railing nearest where Alaric and the woman were playing.</p><p>They had clearly noticed her, but neither paid her any attention. Tugging at the edge of her shirt, Hilda tried to think of what she could say. Alaric likely had no inclination to speak with her, but she felt intrigued, and she couldn’t just stand aside quietly.</p><p>She walked forward, and caught him staring from the corner of his eye. “Do you Mikaelsons always feel the need to hover?” he asked. </p><p>“We’re used to being in control,” she said simply. “It’s a natural instinct to want to watch and absorb details.”</p><p>He let out a dry chuckle. “Well, do you mind doing it somewhere else? We’re in the middle of a game.”</p><p>The woman beside him was obviously nervous with Hilda’s presence, but she didn’t seem to want her to go. “She’s not doing anything, Ric,” she said in a level voice. “Maybe she just wants to watch.”</p><p>Hilda smiled appreciatively. “Yes, I do want to watch. I’m not really good at pool.”</p><p>“You’ve been around since the game was invented,” the woman assumed. “Haven’t you?”</p><p>Hilda shrugged. “Yes, well, I’ve been around before many things came around— like the internet. But some things, you never quite get the hang of.” She shifted on her feet. “So er— you sound like a doctor. Am I correct in that?”</p><p>The woman nodded. “Yes.” She leaned closer, and whispered, “Dr. Meredith Fell.”</p><p>“I won’t tell Kol, don’t worry,” said Hilda reassuringly. “Nice to meet you. I always thought I’d have liked to be a doctor, but with being daggered so often, well…”</p><p>“You could study to be one,” said Meredith. “Oh— well, all the blood…”</p><p>“I’m pretty good around blood. Kol has more of a problem. I could manage it.” For the sake of continuing their chat, she asked, “how does one go about studying for that?”</p><p>Meredith thought for a moment. “Well, nowadays, you have to go to university. You do four years of undergraduate studies. You major in something— like, focusing on a specific subject to get a degree in that. You apply for Medical School, and if your scores are good, you get in, and that’s another four years. Once you graduate there, you can branch off into different specialties. It took me five years of interning and residency to become the doctor I am today. For surgery, it takes longer.”</p><p>Hilda drummed her fingers against the edge of the pool table, continuing to steal glances at Alaric, who seemed intent on ignoring her. “What types of subjects should I pick if I want to be a doctor?”</p><p>“Most people pick subsets of biology, chemistry, psychology, and physics, but there is so much you can do. You can major in something different and still become a doctor.”</p><p>“I think I might be really good at chemistry. I’ve studied it a lot in the past.”</p><p>Meredith seemed intrigued by this. “Really? How? I don’t mean to sound rude, but from what I’ve heard about the Originals— it’s just a bunch of murder and parties.”</p><p>Hilda laughed lightly. “Yes, well, those take up the majority of our time. But before we were vampires, we were witches. Kol and I tapped into it the best. And over the years we’ve learned many types of magic. In that, there are forms of chemistry that we excelled in. I think the one I specialize in… is biochemistry. And inorganic chemistry, of course.”</p><p>“Wow, that sounds good. You would probably do really well in all of that. There are a lot of websites up now that you can look at to decide which university you might like to study at.”</p><p>“Thank you,” said Hilda respectfully. “I appreciate the information.” She looked up at Alaric. “I assume you majored in history.”</p><p>“Yeah,” he said, looking at Meredith as if he wanted her to stop talking to Hilda. The brunette saw no harm in it, and Alaric continued, “I went to Duke University. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”</p><p>“Oh, yes,” said Hilda. “Founded in 1892, I believe? Beautiful campus.”</p><p>He smiled a bit. “Yeah, I liked it a lot. When did you uh, visit?”</p><p>“In 1903, if I’m not mistaken. When it was still fairly fresh and new. One of the better areas that I’ve visited. Of course, it probably looks much nicer now.”</p><p>“They’ve probably grown about a thousand more trees since you last went,” Alaric said, taking a swig of his drink, and finishing it.</p><p>Hilda clasped her hands together. “I’ll get you both more drinks. It’s on me.”</p><p>Alaric and Meredith shared a look. “Really?” asked Alaric. “Thanks.”</p><p>Hilda blushed. “No problem.”</p><p>She walked over to the bar, listening to their conversation from behind.</p><p>“She’s trying to hit on you,” Meredith whispered, so quietly that Hilda could barely hear her. "I think she's nervous."</p><p>“That’s flattering and all, but there is no way in hell that I’m getting involved with an Original. Besides, I’m here with you. Like, an unofficial date.”</p><p>Hilda felt her chest tighten as she reached the bar, refraining from ordering the drinks for the time being.</p><p>“How’s it going, sister?” asked Kol. It seemed he and Klaus had already drank through several bottles. </p><p>“Well, he’s not interested in me, from what I gather,” she said quietly taking one of the bottles and drinking directly from it. “This is fucking stupid… I’d rather be working toward getting a good meal. But, well, I don’t really feel like feeding off of anyone other than the servants at home…”</p><p>“You limit yourself so much, Hilda,” said Klaus, shaking his head. “Let loose, for God’s sake. Don’t control your hunger so bloody much.”</p><p>Kol smirked. “Come on, Nik, you should know by now she does it for me. If she’s more sobered up, she can protect me. She feels obligated to, since she’s the older twin.”</p><p>“More like obligated to make sure you don’t get yourself killed,” she said pointedly. “I dunno. I like the violence, but in settings like this, my cravings are so… low.”</p><p>“Oh, yes, we heard you discussing Medical School,” teased Klaus. “My sister, becoming a doctor… that’ll be the day…”</p><p>She smacked him. “Hey, I can manage it! I’m not an idiot.” She turned away and leaned back against the bar, watching as a familiar blonde head entered the building. “I remember her from last night.”</p><p>Kol turned to see who she was looking at. “She looks like a tasty little thing…”</p><p>“Say another word, and I’ll tear out your liver,” Klaus growled before putting on a smile. “Caroline!”</p><p>She obviously didn’t look happy to see him. “Oh, it’s you.”</p><p>“Join us for a drink?” Klaus offered.</p><p>Caroline made a face. “Mmm, I’d rather die of thirst. But thanks.”</p><p>She turned on her heel and walked out.</p><p>“Isn’t she stunning?” Klaus murmured, watching her go.</p><p>The twins shared an amused look. “She certainly looks good walking away from you,” Hilda observed.</p><p>“Poor Nik, rejected so outright,” sighed Kol dramatically.</p><p>Klaus set his drink on the counter. “I’ll take that as a challenge.” Without another word, he followed after her.</p><p>“So did you find out the brunette’s name?” asked Kol curiously as Hilda finished Klaus’s drink for him,</p><p>“No,” she lied. “She’s not interested. Pick someone else.”</p><p>“Come on, sister, when have you ever stopped me from going for a girl?”</p><p>“She was really nice to me, Kol. You know I’ve never liked how you and our brothers try to coerce women into things they don’t want to do.”</p><p>“Yes, yes, Hilly, you scold us constantly for it. But I’m not going to kill her.”</p><p>“I’d also rather you don’t force her into something that makes her uncomfortable.”</p><p>Ignoring her, he walked over to Meredith, taking advantage of the fact that Alaric had come over to the bar. Hilda quickly brushed some strands of hair behind her ear. “Sorry, got distracted,” she said a bit too fast as she dipped back over the bar to grab a full bottle of bourbon.</p><p>“Don’t worry,” said Alaric with a kind look. He turned back and saw that Kol had approached Meredith. It made him frown.</p><p>“I’ll handle him,” said Hilda, stepping over as Kol tried backing Meredith into a wall. “Kol, come on, we’re leaving.”</p><p>“Hilda, bloody hell, piss off,” said Kol, glaring sideways at her as he turned back to Meredith. “Come on, darling, I like pretty little things with sharp tongues.”</p><p>He reached out to touch her face, but Hilda caught his arm. “Don’t you dare,” she sneered.</p><p>“What are you going to do, fight me?” Kol challenged. “Don’t kid yourself, Hilda, you may be stronger than Rebekah, but you’re not stronger than me.”</p><p>“Let’s see about that, shall we?”</p><p>“You don’t even have the gall to turn a vampire, so—”</p><p>Both twins let out hoarse gasps. Hilda felt a sharp pain in her back, and slumped into Alaric’s arms as he finished diving a white oak dagger into her. Immediately, she and Kol desiccated.</p><p>It felt like barely a minute before the color flooded back into her face. They were now outside of the Mystic Grill, and she was on the ground, looking up at Elijah and Klaus, who were standing in front of Damon and Stefan, who'd been knocked back. Beside her, Meredith was helping Alaric up after he got his head bashed into a wall.</p><p>“We still need them, Niklaus,” Elijah was saying.</p><p>“What did Mother do?” snarled Klaus. “What did she do, Elijah?”</p><p>Elijah did not answer. Holding out a phone, he walked toward Damon. “You tell me where the witches are, or I’ll have my sister kill Elena right now.”</p><p>“You told me we had until after nine!” said Damon indignantly.</p><p>“I’m sure Rebekah will be more than happy to start her work early,” said Elijah indifferently.</p><p>Damon scowled as Kol and Hilda gathered the strength to sit up. “The old witch house near the forest. Stefan and I will head there.” He grabbed his brother and sped off.</p><p>Right as Hilda stood, Klaus slammed her back into the wall, near Alaric. She squeaked, and he shook her violently. “This is all your bloody fault!” Klaus spat.</p><p>“What the fuck, Klaus?” she hissed. </p><p>“Our Mother is trying to murder us, and you and Kol are always flaunting about how you were once witches— you should have done something! Perhaps— perhaps you even helped her!”</p><p>“Are you <em>mental?</em> I didn’t help her! We had no idea!”</p><p>“Rebekah was right about you,” Klaus snarled in her face. “You’re inexperienced and stupid, and you were so easily swayed by a handsome face that you put this entire family in jeopardy. You better hope that this spell isn’t finished in time.”</p><p>He released her, ignoring the hurt look in her eyes. She looked down in shame, feeling like she might cry, but she couldn’t let herself, not with Alaric and Meredith right there. They were staring at her, and she gulped. She looked up to see Kol brushed past Klaus to get to her. “It’s alright, sister, it’s not your fault,” he told her reassuringly. “Come on, let’s go, shall we?”</p><p>Hilda nodded quickly, feeling her emotions skyrocketing in all directions. She felt angry enough that she could have torn Klaus’s heart out. But she was also so embarrassed that she wished she could curl up and sob. </p><p>Silently, the four siblings linked hands as Elijah sped them to the location that Damon and Stefan had told them. Walking through the edge of the woods, they found that in front of the old witch house, a pentagram had been created with torches at the peaks, and Finn was standing inside of it. </p><p>“My children, come forward,” said Esther.</p><p>“Stay beside me, Mother,” said Finn, beckoning Esther into the pentagram with him. </p><p>“It’s okay,” she said. “They can’t enter.”</p><p>Kol was the first to approach the pentagram, and immediately, the torches flared up bright, making him jump back. “That’s lovely,” he said scathingly. “We're stuck out here, while the favorite son plays sacrificial lamb. How pathetic you are, Finn.”</p><p>“Be quiet, Kol,” Esther chided. “Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine.”</p><p>Elijah held up his finger. “Whatever you think of us, killing your own children will be an atrocity.”</p><p>Esther was unfazed. “My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago.”</p><p>“Enough!” snapped Klaus. “All this talk is boring me. End this now, Mother, or I'll send you back to Hell.”</p><p>“For a thousand years,” she said, “I've been forced to watch you. Felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better. All of you. You're a curse on this Earth. Stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry, you've wasted your time.”</p><p>But suddenly, she looked alarmed, and Hilda could feel a change in the air. The torches flickered. “No!” Esther cried. “Sisters! Do not abandon me!”</p><p>“Mother!” Finn exclaimed.</p><p>The pentagram’s torches flared up so violently, that Hilda and Kol jumped away and covered their eyes to avoid being blinded and burned. By the time it subsided, Finn and Esther were gone.</p><p>Kol and Hilda were the first to move over and examine the remains of the spell. “We need go get the bloody hell out of here,” said Kol immediately. “Mother will stop at nothing to kill us. Let’s get back to the house.”</p><p>He took his sister’s hand, leaving their brothers behind as he sped them away. He stopped at his room, grabbing anything he might want to take.</p><p>“Must we run?” asked Hilda quietly. “I-I know I wanted to leave but I… I’m not sure I want to go. Out there, we’ll have only uncertainty. We know magic too, Kol. We can stay here and find a way to reverse what she did.”</p><p>He sighed. “Hilly, I don’t know how you could wish to remain behind after how Bex and Nik treated you today. Even I was an arse. But we’ve always been there for each other. We have never been apart. We flee together. Get daggered together.”</p><p>She put her hands on his shoulders. “Get a headstart. I’ll meet you wherever you go.”</p><p>He nodded. “Alright, sister. But I expect to hear updates about this Saltzman fellow. I don’t condone falling for humans, but—“</p><p>“I’m not falling for him, idiot, I want to sleep with him.”</p><p>“Then go night night to his place, see if he invites you in.”</p><p>Hilda smirked and nudged him. “We’ll see how it goes. First, I'll have Klaus get me one of those cell phone things.”</p><p>Just then, Klaus came in. “Kol,” he said. “To Denver, Colorado. Elena’s brother resides there, and I need you to monitor him. Befriend him, I don’t give a damn. He’s compelled— he won’t know what the surname Mikaelson means.”</p><p>Kol was definitely looking forward to it. “Perfect. You sure you don’t want to come now, Hilly?”</p><p>“I’m fine here,” she said. “But I’ll join you eventually, I promise.”</p><p>Kol patted her on the back as he walked out. Klaus shifted on his feet. </p><p>“I was cruel with you,” he said quietly. “Of course it wasn’t your fault.”</p><p>She turned away from him. “Alright, Nik.” She knew better than to expect a proper apology.</p><p>“I am thankful that you stayed. I will reveal this information to Kol later on, but I believe we’re going to need your help.”</p><p>“What is it?”</p><p>“There is another White Oak tree. Meaning, we can still be killed.”</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>For someone who loved to kill so much, Hilda certainly did not want to die. </strong>
</p><p>“It’s a good thing you chose to stay behind,” said Rebekah as the two sisters walked toward the Mystic Grill. “Kol can watch over that boy in Denver. Klaus can work on finding Finn. We’re going to find where that bloody tree is and make sure it’s gone.”</p><p>“Just focus on very casually asking Mayor Lockwood about where the White Oak could have gone,” said Hilda. “I’ll be at the bar. If any prying ears enter the vicinity, I’ll distract them.”</p><p>Rebekah nodded and went in as Hilda opened the door for her. The younger Original walked over to where Carol Lockwood awaited at a table. The older Original headed straight for the bar, tucking her hair behind her ears to listen to the conversation.</p><p>“Thank you for meeting with me, Mayor,” said Rebekah sweetly. “I figured as head of the Preservation Society, you'd be a good person to ask about the oldest trees in this community.”</p><p>Carol suspected nothing. “A long line of Lockwood women use to keep those records, back before any of them had actual jobs.”</p><p>“I've been to the Founders' archive, but I can't seem to find any record of the tree I'm looking for.”</p><p>“It probably got cut down. Big old trees built half of this town in the 1900s.”</p><p>She had just gotten a shot of bourbon when she heard the door open. “She-Devil at nine o’clock,” she heard Damon Salvatore say. She looked back over her shoulder as the two brothers fixed their gaze on Rebekah. They walked over to Hilda, and Damon threw his hands in the air like he had won the lottery. “And look at this— She-Devil Senior at twelve o’clock.”</p><p>“Is your comedy to make up for how terrible you are in bed?” she said with a deadpan expression.</p><p>“Shh,” he said as he sat to the right of her. “Let’s not pretend you weren’t about to kill your sister for sleeping with me. Speaking of killing, you wouldn’t happen to be responsible for the recent string of murders popping up, would you?”</p><p>She glared at him. “If you were intelligent, you’d notice that those murders started before I woke up. Secondly, I’m not responsible in any way, but I am considering murdering you now.”</p><p>Damon wolf-whistled. “Did I make someone pissy by mentioning that you and your sister are catfighting over mer? I’m flattered, honestly.”</p><p>“Maybe I just don’t like to be bothered by baby vampires who think they have a right to act disrespectful with an Original.”</p><p>“Look, bitchy, I don’t give a damn whether you’re an Original or the Queen of Sparta— I got a buddy in jail who’s being falsely accused. These murders may have started before you got out of your beauty sleep, but maybe one of your other siblings—”</p><p>“Kol and I wouldn’t prance around acting like serial killers in Mystic Falls. We’d spread out. Go to smaller towns that no one ever hears of. Either way, he, Elijah, and Finn are gone. It wasn’t them. Don’t go pointing fingers at my family.”</p><p>He put his fist under his chin. “If they’re gone… what are you still doing here?”</p><p>“Why would I leave when I have so much fun ahead of me?” she answered with a cheeky smile. “I’ve been fantasizing about slaughtering your entire little friend group since the night of the ball. Who’s your pal in jail? Was he at the ball?”</p><p>“No, he wouldn’t have been, he was on bedrest,” said Damon. “But you do know him. About 6’2, history teacher— oh, yeah, Alaric. I heard Klaus scolded you for making doe eyes at him.” For effect, he batted his eyelashes, and Hilda squeezed the shot glass so hard that it shattered in her grip.</p><p>“Leave her alone, Damon,” said Stefan tiredly.</p><p>“Don’t sympathize with her just because the two of you have issues controlling yourselves,” said Damon.</p><p>Hilda gritted her teeth. “The first thing I’ll do when unleashing my control will be to rip Elena Gilbert’s throat out.”</p><p>Damon held his hands up in surrender. “I’d rather you help us play Clue here and figure out who the murderer is. After all, Alaric was one of the victims. What do he, a medical examiner, and Bill Forbes have in common?”</p><p>Hilda turned away to ignore him, and on the other side of Damon, Stefan anxiously tapped his ring on the counter.</p><p>“Come on,” sighed Damon in exasperation. He stared at his brother. “You know, quitting blood cold turkey after a Ripper binge might not be the best approach. Every time you play that all-or-nothing game, you eventually leave a trail of bodies. So, I'm thinking, now is a good time to pay our old friend moderation a visit.”</p><p>“They were all on the Founders’ Council,” Stefan muttered. “That's what they all have in common.”</p><p>“But why them, huh? Brian Walters and Alaric weren't from founding families. I mean, hey, if you're gonna slaughter council members, go A-list. At least in 1912 they killed a Salvatore.”</p><p>“Maybe I’ll join Hilly in killing a Salvatore now,” said Rebekah’s voice from behind them. “Which Salvatore was killed before?”</p><p>“Zachariah Salvatore,” said Stefan boredly.</p><p>“He’s your nephew?”</p><p>“Well,” replied Damon, “our father knocked up one of the maids during the Civil War, she had a son. But as far as everyone else knew, Stefan and I were dead. Family name had to go somewhere.”</p><p>Rebekah leaned onto the counter, casting Hilda a look. “And, uh, your family owned the logging mills back then?”</p><p>Damon looked at her suspiciously. “You're full of a <em>lot</em> of questions.”</p><p>“I'm just researching the town history. I grew up here after all.”</p><p>“You know you don't have to disguise your true motives Blondie-Bex, if you want more sex, just ask for it.”</p><p>“Not enough liquor in the world,” she replied sourly, grabbing a bottle and pouring herself a drink.</p><p>Damon rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, it was too good for you to be this hostile. Maybe—” he turned to Hilda, “what you need, is a taste of that. Let loose, you’re completely rigid. Why can’t you be more like your sister?”</p><p>“Dangerous choice of words, Damon,” Rebekah said as Hilda’s eyes flashed darkly. “If there’s one thing Hilly hates, it’s being compared to me.”</p><p>“You should know by now that sibling comparisons aren’t fun at all,” Hilda murmured lowly. Stefan impatiently moved further from her, grabbing a glass for himself.</p><p>Damon looked over at him. “You'll have to excuse my little brother, he's jonesing for some O positive.”</p><p>“I’m not jonesing,” Stefan said.</p><p>Rebekah ignored him. “So, did they ever catch the killer?”</p><p>Damon shook his head. “Nope. Wrote it all off on vampires.”</p><p>“It could have been a vampire,” Hilda said with a tense shrug.</p><p>Stefan narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, maybe it was a vampire, Damon.”</p><p>Damon smirked. “Don't think for a second you didn't cross my mind too, brother. But these murders weren't your style, were they? Plus there were no other vampires circulating then.”</p><p>“Well, there was one other vampire. Remember Sage?”</p><p>“Ohh, right, Sage. Speaking of great sex. Ooh!” He took a swig from the bottle, and Hilda and Rebekah shared a look.</p><p>“We knew a Sage once,” said Rebekah. “Trashy little thing.”</p><p>“She wasn’t bad,” said Hilda honestly. “I rather liked her.”</p><p>“Only because you and Finn were best of friends when she was around, because you both felt so repulsed by the idea of turning someone into a vampire.”</p><p>Damon drew the attention back to their predicament, though he was mostly speaking to Stefan. “You really think it was Sage who was killing all those Founders back then?”</p><p>Stefan shrugged. “Town questioned every grown man in Mystic Falls. Probably never occurred to them that a woman could have done it.”</p><p>Rebekah finished her bottle of whiskey. “So, uh, tell me more about your old relatives. I heard they tore down half the woods to build this town.” She reached for a new bottle that the bartender offered her, but Damon grabbed it first.</p><p>“Easy there, lushy pants,” he told her. “It's been a hoot and a half but it's boy's night and you weren't invited. Your big sister can stay, though.” He winked at Hilda before walking off with Stefan, toward the dart boards.</p><p>“I take back the anger,” sneered Hilda as she watched him go. “He’s an insufferable bastard. I’d rather tear his heart out and eat it while he watches.”</p><p>Rebekah tittered. “I forget how fun you can be when Kol isn’t around.”</p><p>“Kol’s fantastic, Bex.”</p><p>“He’s alright. You’re a much better sister when you’re not scheming with him. You twins only ever support each other.”</p><p>“Maybe because the rest of you shoved us aside. And check your vocabulary, Bex, ‘better’ isn’t a good word to describe me.” She snatched up the rest of her bourbon bottle and went over to the dart boards. Rebekah followed behind, hearing the last bit of Damon’s words to Stefan.</p><p>“She’s a woman,” he was saying as he hit the bullseye. “There's no way she could stab three grown men.” He threw another dart, but Rebekah sped forward and caught it before it could hit the board.</p><p>“That’s a bit sexist,” she said. “A woman could easily kill a man, with the right motivation. Hilda and I have overpowered plenty of men.”</p><p>Stefan looked up at the two sisters. “You just, uh, don't give up, do you?”</p><p>Hilda frowned. “Why are you all grumpy? Did someone piss in your animal blood?”</p><p>Damon snorted. “He's on a master cleanse. Trying to be a better man and all.”</p><p>Rebekah scowled at Stefan. “You know, you were a lot more fun in the twenties.”</p><p>“Don’t rile him up,” Damon warned as he bumped her with his elbow. “He's testy when he's being self-righteous.”</p><p>Stefan sighed in exasperation. “I'm not being self-righteous, Damon. I'm just not interested in slaughtering innocent human beings anymore.”</p><p>“Ooh, Hilly gets that,” Rebekah said. “She gets into moods where she wants to be all good and whatnot.”</p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes. “I have to have control if I’m going to keep Kol from getting himself killed. I’ve had enough blood already, I don’t mind holding back. Violence follows us everywhere, Bex, we’ll get a chance to commit a massacre anytime we wish.”</p><p>“You and Sage used to get into such trouble when she was first turned,” muttered Rebekah. “It’s a wonder you didn’t fall for her and steal her from Finn.”</p><p>“You know I’m not romantically interested in women, Bex. Just sexually, sometimes. What do they call it—? I was just reading it on the internet. Bisexual heteromantic— I don’t know.”</p><p>“I think we’re talking about the same Sage,” said Damon. “How did you know her?”</p><p>“She was obsessed with my brother Finn, over nine hundred years ago,” said Rebekah.</p><p>“What? Creepy suicidal guy?”</p><p>“Yes, that one,” said Hilda as Stefan kept tapping his ring on the table.</p><p>“You’re doing it again,” Damon muttered.</p><p>Stefan got to his feet. “Alright, you know what, I need to, uh, I gotta get out of here.”</p><p>Damon stepped right in front of him. “Sure. First, admit you're jonesing.”</p><p>“Damon, I’m not…”</p><p>He grabbed him roughly. “Admit it.”</p><p>“Okay, fine,” admitted Stefan. “I'm freaking out. I'm ready to eat the entire wait staff, why do you need to hear me say it?”</p><p>Damon shrugged. “Because I'm feeling a little self-righteous too.”</p><p>Stefan shook him off and walked out of the building. Rebekah and Hilda followed as Damon went after him. “So he doesn’t want to drink human blood at all?” asked Hilda. “Damn, at least I do blood bags and feed from servants every now and then.”</p><p>“Ah, he's an eternally guilty conscience,” said Damon.</p><p>“Funny,” Rebekah mused. “When I knew him in the twenties, he didn't have any conscience at all. One of the things I liked most about it. Can't possibly think he can survive without feeding.”</p><p>“Oh, on the contrary, he's determined to live his life pursuing one extreme or the other. He's a stubborn one, my brother. Uh, think I'm gonna need some help with this one.”</p><p>“What can we do?”</p><p>Damon pursed his lips before speeding over to a blonde woman who was just getting out of her car. Within seconds, he’d started to feed on her, and Stefan looked back in horror. “Damon, stop!”</p><p>He released her, and Hilda sped forward in time to catch the woman. “Sorry, brother,” said Damon. “It’s dinner time. Have a bite.”</p><p>“What are you doing?” Stefan panted, obviously having to fight back his urges.</p><p>“Tough love, Stefan. You're not gonna survive this cold turkey thing, you never do. It's time to get that monkey off your back.”</p><p>“No… no…”</p><p>“Feed, or I’ll let Rebekah and Hilda have their way with her. You know that they’ll kill her.”</p><p>“I definitely will,” Rebekah said as she brushed the woman’s hair aside.</p><p>“I’ll drink a fair share of blood,” offered Hilda.</p><p>“Then her blood will be on your hands,” continued Damon. “Or you could just have a little drink, save her life. Come on, Stefan. You were the one that said you didn't want any more innocent lives slaughtered. Save her. Go on, have a bite. I snatched, you eat, I'll erase. Hell, I'll even heal her for you.”</p><p>Stefan shook his head wildly. “Why are you doing this? You know what blood does to me.”</p><p>“Because you let it control you. You always have. I'm just here to help you learn how to fight it.”</p><p>Rebekah was too impatient. “This is rubbish.” She extracted her fangs, ready to bite the woman, but Stefan shoved her back. After almost ten seconds of heavy deliberation, the veins began to darken under his eyes, and he bit into the woman, feeding aggressively.</p><p>“I got it from here,” said Damon. “Go ahead.”</p><p>Rebekah was indignant. “The night's just getting started!”</p><p>“Scram,” Damon said more roughly. “No one likes a lurker.”</p><p>Hilda shrugged indifferently. “I’ll see you at home, Bex. I’m going to pay a visit to someone.”</p><p>She sped off, having in mind to head to the police station and see what she could do to help Alaric. However, when she arrived, she quickly learned that he had been released. It didn’t take a lot of asking to learn that he lived at the Gilbert residence, and within minutes, she was outside, seeing Elena Gilbert going upstairs. Alaric was in the living room, looking exhausted.</p><p>Gulping nervously, she gathered up her wits and went to knock on the door.</p><p>He opened it, and his eyes widened in surprise. “Should I be expecting you to launch a missile into the house?” he inquired, half-joking.</p><p>She offered him a smile. “No, I’m not one to deal with such weapons. I er— was told of your predicament. Suspect in a murder case, I hear? But they let you go.”</p><p>“Um, yeah, they did,” he said, confused as to why she was there. “I’m sorry— why are you here?”</p><p>She shuffled onto her heels. “I thought maybe, I could offer some help. If this was a vampire and they compelled you to forget something, I’m pretty sure I can break through the compulsion to figure out what’s going on.”</p><p>But Alaric wasn’t listening to her anymore. He was looking behind her, and she turned to see Meredith Fell walking up the lawn. Alaric made to close the door, but Meredith jogged up before he could. “I know what this looks like,” she said.</p><p>“Yeah, well, I sure as hell don't,” he said coldly. “You shoot me, you have me thrown in jail, and then you have me freed?”</p><p>“I did it for you, Ric,” said Meredith. “I forged the coroner's note to clear your name.”</p><p>Alaric looked at Hilda as if saying, ‘can you believe her?’ “You know what, people are right,” he said to Meredith. “You are a psycho.” He faced Hilda again. “Look, I can’t invite you in, so let’s just meet tomorrow and we’ll see if you can look past any compulsion.”</p><p>He started to close the door again, but Meredith stopped him. “No!” she cried. “Now that you've been cleared, they'll look somewhere else, they won't look your way again. Please. You have no reason, but I need you to trust me anyway. If you let me in I can explain.”</p><p>Hilda awkwardly stepped back. “I’m just… gonna go,” she said softly before speeding off.</p><p>Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. She wanted to bash her head into a wall. After all, it wouldn’t kill her. What did she think, that he was going to invite her in? It wasn’t even actually his house. What was she expecting? He wasn’t interested in her, and she just kept at it.</p><p>She had always liked the fragility of humans. The way they lived, knowing they were going to die at any random moment, and nothing could save them. Perhaps she was more intrigued because she knew Alaric had been a vampire hunter. She couldn’t be sure why she felt like getting to know him, but she did, and it was driving her insane.</p><p>She’d gotten home and grabbed one of the available servants, getting in a good drink before going to bed. In the morning, Rebekah had asked her to go with her to Wickery Bridge and attend some restoration fundraiser for it. She didn’t know why she wanted her to go, but if it had something to do with the White Oak, she’d stay there.</p><p>“There’s your history teacher,” crooned Rebekah as she looked back over Hilda’s shoulder. “He’s with that woman again. And… ugh. Damon Salvatore.”</p><p>Hilda peeked back and saw Damon looking at them. Meredith was looking at her phone, but Alaric’s gaze followed Damon’s, and he glanced at Hilda for a bit before quickly looking away.</p><p>“Is it really this difficult for you to sleep with someone?” said Rebekah in surprise. </p><p>“Yes, because unlike the rest of you, I don’t like using compulsion to get people in bed.”</p><p>“That’s why you’ve been abstinent for centuries…”</p><p>Hilda abruptly seized her by the throat. “One more mention of that, and I’ll tear your heart out. We’ll see how long it takes you to regrow it.”</p><p>Rebekah glared and shoved her back. “No need to get so defensive, Hilly. I thought the oldest sister was supposed to be nurturing.”</p><p>“If we’re being specific about the technicalities, Freya was the oldest sister. She just died of plague. She took all the nurturing with her. I’m the middle sister. By default, I get to be the problematic one.”</p><p>“You were also the middle child once Henrik was born. No wonder you have such issues.”</p><p>Hilda sneered, but faltered when she saw Damon moving toward a familiar redhead. Sage.</p><p>“No bloody way,” murmured Hilda before making her way over. Rebekah followed closely behind.</p><p>“Look what the cat dragged in,” said Rebekah, glaring at the redhead.</p><p>“Easy there, Rebekah, you know, she used to beat men for sport,” said Damon.</p><p>“She always was quite common.”</p><p>“Rebekah,” said Sage distastefully. “What a happy surprise.” She then faced Hilda and nodded her head respectfully. “But Hilda Mikaelson, on the other hand. You, I always liked better. More entertaining. You hate everything and everyone equally. The perfect companion.”</p><p>Hilda smirked. “Good to see you, Sage. It’s been ages. What brings you to Mystic Falls?”</p><p>“Well, I heard Finn was finally freed from that casket your rageaholic brother Klaus carted him around in.”</p><p>“Mmm, Finn,” sighed Rebekah. “You just missed him. He left town and didn't tell a soul where he was going.”</p><p>Sage raised an eyebrow. “He probably went looking for me.”</p><p>“Or quite possibly, he forgot all about you.”</p><p>“I doubt that.”</p><p>“No? Cause he didn't seem to mention you. Sorry you came all this way for nothing. Have a nice life.”</p><p>Rebekah walked off, and Sage scoffed. “God, I hate that elitist Original bitch.”</p><p>“You’re lucky that I don’t give a damn about defending my sister unless it benefits me,” said Hilda, tucking her hands in her back pockets. “But she’s right, Sage. Finn’s gone.”</p><p>She felt a tap on her shoulder before she could continue. It was Alaric, and Hilda tripped a bit as she turned to face him.</p><p>“Er— hello,” she said, feeling her cheeks grow slightly pink. “What… brings you here?”</p><p>“Meredith and I spoke, and we think you might be able to write out a spell that could remove this thing from me. You said you used to be a witch and that you traveled a lot. We have someone who could perform the spell, you’d just need to prepare it for them.” He then added quickly, “only if you’d be willing to help. You don’t have to, obviously… don’t know why you would.”</p><p>“I have nothing better to do,” she said smoothly, trying to pretend her stomach wasn’t doing backflips. </p><p>Alaric smiled. “Alright. Meet us at the Mystic Grill in an hour, if you don’t mind.” He patted her shoulder and walked off.</p><p>Sage nudged her side. “You’ve changed, Hellish Hilda. Pursuing a human? That’s the—”</p><p>“—first sign of weakness,” she finished, tugging at her sleeves. “Yeah, Kol made that abundantly clear. I’m not going soft, if that’s what you think. I’m just… really bored.”</p><p>Damon chuckled lowly. “I’ll be sure to tell Ric that an Original is desperate to get into his pants. I’m sure he’ll jump for joy.”</p><p>Hilda whirled back and gripped Damon by the throat, a sneer back on her face. “Speak another word to me out of turn, and I’ll stake you to a tree for your wretched little doppelganger to find.”</p><p>He tapped her wrist as he choked, telling her to release him. She kept her hold until she finally decided to drop him.</p><p>“I changed my mind,” Hilda heard Damon say to Sage as she walked off to meet Alaric and Meredith. “I should warn Ric before she breaks him in half.”</p><p>“She’s not going to break him,” chuckled Sage. “You don’t know Hilda Mikaelson like I do. If she’s being nice to a human, she’ll do everything to make sure he never hates her.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>It didn’t take Hilda very long to write out the spell.</strong>
</p><p>“That should do it,” she said, sliding the paper over to Alaric. “The herbs aren’t difficult to fine and the general incantation is really easy. You just have to make sure you take those herbs often after she does the spell. Your alter-ego is going to be fighting for control, and this will suppress him.”</p><p>Alaric looked over it, not understanding most of it, but trusting that it was done properly. “Thanks,” he said, and he genuinely meant it. “That’s really nice of you. I’m still surprised that you’re willing to help.”</p><p>Hilda shrugged and leaned back. “I need to occupy my time somehow. And I’d rather you not kill the people in this town.”</p><p>Meredith clasped her hands together. “I think this calls for some drinks. Be right back.” She got up, heading over to the bar. Hilda cleared her throat and cracked her knuckles, no longer knowing what to say.</p><p>How was it that he made her so damn nervous? He was a human. He couldn’t hear how hard her heart was beating. He couldn’t sense that he was making her feel anxious or self-conscious. He couldn’t possibly hurt her. And yet, she found herself practically sweating at the prospect of speaking with him alone.</p><p>“I really hope this gets better for you,” said Hilda as steadily as she could. “No one should have to go through that.”</p><p>He seemed thankful with her comment. “I just wish I knew why earlier on, you know? I would have taken this ring off a long time ago if I knew that it would leave me like this.”</p><p>“There are a lot of things in the world that take time to be able to explain, and the waiting period is perhaps the most aggravating thing ever. But eventually, everything has a solution. This won’t be permanent. I just… I wish I was still a witch. I could do more than write a spell.”</p><p>“Don’t sell yourself short,” he said. “You’re the only Original— well, besides Elijah— who’s showed us even an ounce of civility. Now, I do know that you have a reputation, but you’re being kind about this. You’ve helped a great deal. It’s impressive how much magic you know. I like to think I know a lot about history, but you’ve actually gotten to travel. You absorb more that way.”</p><p>She smiled. “Yes, being part of history and even the creation of some Covens has been a nice highlight. And even so, there is so much we haven’t been a part of. Anything marked as ‘B.C.,’ I wasn’t around for. And anything before 984, well, I have no knowledge of. My parents didn’t even discover this new world until 978, when Elijah was born.”</p><p>“Oh wow— you two are six years apart?”</p><p>“For some reason, our mother and father had this pattern of twos and fours. Some of us are two years apart from each other, others four. Let’s see… Freya in 972, Finn in 974, Elijah in 978, Nik in 980, Kol and I in 984, Rebekah in 986, and Henrik in 990. Two, four, two, four, two, four.”</p><p>Alaric raised his eyebrows. “You have seven siblings total? Here I am with none.”</p><p>“An, an only child versus the somewhat middle child of a bunch. If our ages matched, it’d be very interesting to learn about how that makes us different.”</p><p>He chuckled. “You were seventeen or eighteen when you got turned, right? That makes me feel old.”</p><p>“I’m like, nine hundred and ninety years older than you. Thirty times your age! I’m the ancient one here.”</p><p>“Well, you still look just as young, so no one would be able to tell. Have you always had your hair that short?”</p><p>“No. When I was still human, I had it very long. But it was such a burden, so I sliced it off the instant I turned. Only ever grown it during some periods of time, but I’ve been daggered so often that I never got to try hairstyles from certain decades. I’m still rather pissed I had to miss the Roaring Twenties, but at least, I didn’t have to go through the whole depression aspect of it.”</p><p>He smirked. “That’s one of my favorite things to teach. Most of my students come in thinking it’s like The Great Gatsby, but it turns out to be so distinct when they learn the real history.”</p><p>“It must have been so tedious to get your degree in that. All this reading… it’s why I love the sciences more. So much more of doing. Chemistry comes so naturally to me, too, which makes it more fun.”</p><p>“History comes easier to me than any other subject. I remember, when I was younger, I was incredibly bad at science and math. It just didn’t stick. But reading— I could memorize all of that so easily. I captivated historical facts better than everyone my age. I was never really good at anything else, so it stuck. Okay, well, I guess I could say I was good at being a vampire hunter, but that isn’t a school subject.”</p><p>Hilda tapped her fingers against the edge of the table. “If they actually had a supernatural course in schools, I imagine our species would be in much more danger.” She then looked up as Meredith returned.</p><p>She distributed the drinks, and Hilda thanked her. “It’s on me, alright?” she offered.</p><p>“Nonsense, I can get it this time,” said Meredith.</p><p>“I don’t mind. Really, it’s alright.”</p><p>Meredith smiled. “Fine, thank you.” She checked her watch after downing her glass in one gulp. “Phew— I have to go to the hospital. This has been nice. Ric, I should get you home.”</p><p>Alaric nodded and downed his drink. Hilda pursed her lips before drinking hers as well. “Safe ride back,” she said softly to the two of them as they walked out, waving at her. She pulled out her small purse and put down some money before walking out as well, and going straight home.</p><p>She let herself indulge. One simple bit of compulsion, and she got three of the servants to pamper her. They started with drawing her a bath and massaging her while she sat in the tub, massaging the shampoo gently into her hair. They massaged her some more once they helped to dry her, and lotioned her body, leaving her smelling like cinnamon and vanilla. She had them play her some music as she got one to play chiropractor.</p><p>It wasn’t until evening when Rebekah returned, once Hilda felt calm. Her sister looked unnaturally pleased.</p><p>“What happened?” asked Hilda, tightening the robe she had on. “You’re all smiley.”</p><p>“I got sex <em>and</em> I got rid of the last of the White Oak,” she said smugly. “You’re welcome.” She pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to her. “Saw Sage. Here’s her number. I believe she’ll want to speak with you about Finn. You remember how to call someone?”</p><p>“Yes, I’m not an idiot.” Hilda took the paper to her room and dialed the number on it.</p><p>“Is it true?” Sage answered in a near-whisper. “Did he offer himself up to die?”</p><p>Hilda sighed softly. “Yes, he did. He’s always hated being a vampire. Kol and I learned to like it because our immortality gave us power over others. But Finn wasn’t like that. And after being daggered for nine hundred years…”</p><p>There was a shaky gasp on the other end. “Alright… listen, if you find him, all I ask is that you contact me. I still want to see him. To speak with him. Find out… firsthand.”</p><p>“Of course. I’ll let you know.”</p><p>She hung up. </p><p>In the morning, she felt a bit more confident, and had the servants cook her several pancakes and waffles. She decided to pack some in a tin and take it over to Alaric’s apartment, which wasn’t difficult to find, considering Klaus didn’t mind telling her where she could search first. She easily asked the manager to tell her which apartment was his, and knocked on the door, hearing faint voices inside, as though someone was inside, whispering to be secretive.</p><p>She knocked on the door. There was a pause, and she was greeted by Damon Salvatore.</p><p>“If it isn’t Miss Big Bad Original Sister,” he said, looking down at the tin in her hands. “More food?”</p><p>“What the hell do you mean, more food?” she snapped.</p><p>“It was a simple question,” he said, holding his hands up in surrender. </p><p>“I brought this for Alaric. I assume he had the spell done on him yesterday?”</p><p>“Yes, he did.” Damon was purposely standing in the doorway and not opening the door enough for her to see inside. Whoever was behind was being very very quiet.</p><p>“Where is he?” she demanded. “I came to deliver breakfast for him, not for you.”</p><p>“Aw, is someone trying to win their history teacher over? Oh, right, you’re not enrolled as a student… yet.”</p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes. “Always a dick.” She shoved the tin into his hand. “Where is he, Damon? I don’t like to be kept waiting.”</p><p>Instead of responding, he stepped out with her, shutting the door behind him. “He’s fine. He needs to rest. Poor guy can barely move around and you’re here causing a racket. Take that prissy little outfit of yours and leave the building. I’ll let him know you sent sustenance.”</p><p>“How do I know you didn’t just kill him?”</p><p>“I’m not you. I’m going to be nice and let you walk away before I push you away.”</p><p>She narrowed her eyes. “You’re hiding something,” she said lowly. “What are you hiding?”</p><p>“Maybe I’m trying to be nice so you don’t kill me now that all the stupid White Oak is gone,” he snapped. “You had to go and ruin it.”</p><p>“Don’t pin this on me. If you weren’t such a sarcastic, arrogant, and spineless prick, I wouldn’t need to be so hostile.”</p><p>“You’re hostile with everyone. I don’t feel special.”</p><p>She stepped closer, shoving him back against the door, holding his throat. “Just because Kol isn’t here doesn’t mean we aren’t working together,” she sneered. “We have written a spell that’ll unlink us all. So if you’re planning something… think carefully before you proceed into dangerous territory.”</p><p>Damon scoffed, and she squeezed harder. “Yeah… right,” he said hoarsely. “Two vampires… writing a spell… that’ll be the day….”</p><p>“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t snap your neck right now.”</p><p>“You won’t… do it,” Damon wheezed. “Ric… won’t… like that…”</p><p>She dropped him harshly on the floor, catching the tin before it crashed down. She shoved it back into his hands. “Soon, there won’t be a reason for me to hold back from killing you,” she said, glaring down at him. “And I promise, that day will hurt you so much, you’ll regret every last comment you made to me.”</p><p>She sped out angrily. She had absolutely no idea that they were in the process of forging new White Oak stakes that could kill her and her siblings. Damon just got on her nerves. So what if she wanted to bring Alaric food? She had every right to. </p><p>She was halfway down the next street when her phone rang. Muttering curses under her breath, she picked up, “What, Nik?”</p><p>“Is that any way to speak to the brother who told you where to find that plaything of yours? Naughty, naughty. I’ve located Finn.”</p><p>He hung up, and she quickly paused to text Sage, letting her know that she should go and wait in the Mikaelson home before speeding there herself, finding Klaus and Rebekah already in the car that would take them to where Finn was. </p><p>They found him walking down the street without a care in the world.</p><p>“Hello, Finn,” said Klaus as he and Hilda appeared on either side of Finn, with Rebekah waiting down a nearby alleyway.</p><p>“Hello, Niklaus,” Finn said mockingly before turning to his sister. “Hilda. I have nothing to say to either of you.”</p><p>“Good thing we’re not here to chat,” Hilda replied.</p><p>“We’ll ask you one time,” said Klaus. “Where’s our mother?”</p><p>Finn rolled his eyes. “Gone to find another way to end our abominable lives. And when she does, I will sacrifice myself all over again.”</p><p>Hilda pouted. “The poor martyr. We need your help first.”</p><p>“I have no wish to help you. Only to see you dead.”</p><p>Klaus put his arm on his shoulder. “Right, well, that's the thing; you see you won't be able to see me dead, because if I die, then you die. So, wish unfulfilled, I'm afraid.”</p><p>Finn shook him off. “Oh, bother someone else with your hollowed charms, Niklaus.”</p><p>“We’d rather bother our big brother,” Hilda chimed in. “Come back to Mystic Falls with us.”</p><p>“I have a witch there who can help undo Esther’s spell that linked us together,” added Klaus.</p><p>“I have no wish to be unlinked,” Finn snapped.</p><p>Klaus moved in front of Finn and stopped him in his tracks. “Again with the wishes. Let me rephrase, you will come back with me or I will put you back in that coffin in which you rotted for nine hundred years.”</p><p>Finn was indifferent. “What happens to one, happens to all. You may not feel the effects of the dagger, but you'd lose your precious Rebekah.”</p><p>Hilda smirked. “Wouldn’t be the first time…” She nudged Finn with her hip, and he shoved her aside, speeding down the alley where Rebekah waited. “Let's not make this any worse than it has to be, darling brother.”</p><p>Finn was appalled. “You're siding with him? Rebekah, he stored us in boxes. I can’t even believe that Hilda would side with him!”</p><p>“The thing is, brother,” said Hilda as she appeared behind him, “Nik is trying to help us live, not make us extinct.”</p><p>Finn turned just as Klaus finished cornering him. “What are you gonna do? Kill me?”</p><p>“No, you idiot,” said Hilda. “We’re still linked, and we’re not helping you fulfill your death wish.”</p><p>Klaus chose that moment to bash Finn into the wall, knocking him down before speeding him to where their car waited to drive back to Mystic Falls.  </p><p>They threw him into the foyer upon arrival. “Gather your witch,” said Rebekah. “Let’s get his blood and get on with it.”</p><p>“You can’t force me to help you!” Finn snapped.</p><p>“We were thinking of persuading you instead,” Hilda said. She looked up to the staircase, and Finn turned, seeing Sage coming down to greet him.</p><p>For the first time in nine hundred years, Hilda saw her brother smile. Finn ran straight to Sage, pulling her into a tight hug.</p><p>“What do you know, true love prevails,” said Rebekah. </p><p>Klaus’s phone chimed, and Hilda leaned onto his shoulder, seeing Kol had texted him saying, ‘Let me know when I’m needed.’ Instead of texting back, Klaus extracted the stylus and wrote out on the screen, ‘I will’ in all capital letters.</p><p>“What the bloody fuck is wrong with you, Nik?” said Hilda. “Why can’t you text back like a normal person? Even I know how to do it now.”</p><p>Rebekah smirked. “Well, I have something I need to do. What do you need for the spell?”</p><p>“Just your blood and your blessing,” said Klaus. “Where are you going?”</p><p>“I have some unfinished business with Damon Salvatore. Ask Sage what he did to me. Then you'll understand why retribution is in order.”</p><p>Rebekah walked out, and Hilda shrugged. “I don’t mind being unaware of what happened. Who’s your witch?”</p><p>“The Bennett girl that’s friends with Elena. I took the liberty of kidnapping her earlier. Go and prepare the materials she will need. Once it is time, we will begin.”</p><p>In the time it took Hilda to gather candles, a chalice, the spell, some herbs to concentrate the energy in the room, and show Bonnie Bennett how to do the spell, Rebekah had dragged Damon in to torture him, setting out a plastic wrap on the floor to catch his blood. She had shackled him painfully and cut into his skin, apparently intending to bleed the vervain out of his system.</p><p>“Well, look what you’ve caught,” said Klaus as he and Hilda walked into the room at the same time. “If you're trying to bleed him of vervain, don't you think it would be easier to hang him upside down?”</p><p>Rebekah looked insulted. “I'm perfectly capable of inflicting pain, thank you very much.”</p><p>Klaus held up his hands and rolled his eyes sarcastically. “Well, excuse me, it's not like I have any expertise in the matter.”</p><p>Rebekah beckoned for her siblings to leave. “You know, why don't you just leave me be and go and manage your witch?”</p><p>Klaus yanked Hilda to follow him into the other room, where Bonnie was still reviewing a grimoire and the spell Hilda had written out. </p><p>“Tick tock,” Klaus said loudly. “I should hear chanting by now.”</p><p>Bonnie looked up nervously. “I'm still studying the unlinking spell. It's not that easy, especially under duress.”</p><p>Klaus didn’t care, obviously. “You've been warned. If you're looking for a way to send for help, I will kill anyone who comes to your rescue.”</p><p>Bonnie wrung her hands together. “I just don't know if I'm strong enough.”</p><p>“You will,” said Hilda, walking toward her. “You’re going to channel me. Your energy helped my mother link us, and thus, we need you involved.”</p><p>Klaus patted his sister’s shoulder. “Actually, sister, I think someone just isn’t trying very hard… perhaps she needs some motivation.” He pulled out his phone and dialed Kol’s number. “Kol. How's the weather up there in Mile High City? And how's our friend? May I see him?”</p><p>The screen changed, and Klaus showed it to Bonnie, revealing the boy who must be Jeremy Gilbert, playing with a golden retriever. “There's Jeremy, playing fetch with his new puppy. Oh, isn't that just the most adorable thing you've ever seen?” He pulled the phone back. “Thank you Kol, we'll be in touch.” He hung up. “So, Bonnie, how bout that spell?”</p><p>At that moment, there was a loud and pained scream from the other room— Damon.</p><p>“What was that?” Bonnie asked immediately.</p><p>“Ignore it,” said Hilda. “The sooner we get this done, the better. We’re not trying to torment you.” She extracted the vials of blood prepared from each of their siblings. “Finn. Elijah. Kol. Rebekah. Me.”</p><p>Klaus bit into his hand and held it out to Bonnie, blood dripping to the floor. “Where do you want this?”</p><p>Bonnie took the nearby chalice, holding it for Klaus to drip his blood in. Hilda took out each vial one by one, uncorking them and holding them out for Bonnie.</p><p>She gulped and began to chant, <em>“Phasmatos ex solves, exis paunos animotos. Phasmatos de conjunctos, sua facto dux male. Phasmatos ex solves, exis paunos animotos, de conjuctos sua facto. Phasmatos devos male.”</em></p><p>One by one, she poured the contents of each vial into the chalice as she kept up the chanting, <em>“Phasmatos ex solves, exis paunos animotos. Phasmatos de conjunctos, sua facto dux male. Phasmatos ex solves, exis paunos animotos, de conjuctos sua facto. Phasmatos devos male.”</em></p><p>Hilda offered her hand and Bonnie took it, using her other to pour the mixed blood onto the table, with candles on the borders. <em>“Phasmatos ex solves, exis paunos animotos. Phasmatos de conjunctos, sua facto dux male. Phasmatos ex solves, exis paunos animotos, de conjuctos sua facto. Phasmatos devos male.”</em></p><p>Hilda felt a tug in her gut as Bonnie began to channel her properly. At first, the blood remained unmoving, but then, slowly, it dispersed into six different circles in front of the candles, which flared up brightly as each circle got as far away as it could from the others. </p><p>“Perfect,” said Klaus with a wicked grin. “Clean up, Hilda. I’ll escort Bonnie out of the house.”</p><p>It felt good to have been part of a spell. It was even better that they were finally unlinked, and she didn’t have to worry about being taken down due to Finn’s utter stupidity and desire to be dead.</p><p>It was later in the night, once she’d already gotten ready for bed, when she heard a loud shout from below. </p><p>“Klaus!” It was Stefan Salvatore. “I’m here! Let’s do this.”</p><p>Confused, Hilda sped down alongside Rebekah and Klaus, to the room where Damon was still being bled out. He was barely conscious. Stefan stood in front of him, dropping down a duffel bag that clattered loudly against the floor.</p><p>“Oh, goood, a hero,” said Klaus. “What do you want?”</p><p>“I’m here to make a deal,” said Stefan.</p><p>“Stefan, what are you doing?” managed Damon weakly.</p><p>“Eight stakes of White Oak,” announced Stefan. “The part of Wickery Bridge that you forgot to burn.”</p><p>Klaus and Hilda both turned to Rebekah, who was in shock. “That’s impossible.”</p><p>“Actually, it’s not,” Stefan said. “Finn is dead.”</p><p>Hilda flinched. “What?” she whispered.<em> “What?”</em></p><p>“You killed our brother?” cried Rebekah.</p><p>Stefan didn’t acknowledge either sister, and glared at Klaus. “Damon in exchange for the last eight weapons that can kill you.”</p><p>Klaus narrowed his eyes. “And how do I know there aren't any more left?”</p><p>“Because there aren’t.”</p><p>“Let’s be certain, shall we?” Klaus went over to Damon. “Leave.”</p><p>“No,” Damon said hoarsely.</p><p>“Go on,” Klaus insisted. “Leave.”</p><p>“Nik, he’s my plaything, not yours!” said Rebekah indignantly. She no longer seemed to be saddened by Finn’s death, but Hilda was clutching her chest, still in shock.</p><p>Klaus grabbed Damon by the throat, looking into his eyes to compel him. “I said, go home.”</p><p>Immediately, Damon began to try to get out of the shackles, which were bound so tight, with sharp edges, that his flesh was peeled off in his attempt to get out. He yelled out in pain, and the three siblings watched as he fought hard to escape, but to no avail. He was only torturing himself.</p><p>“Alright,” said Klaus once he was satisfied. “Stop, stop, stop, before you hurt yourself. Well, seeing that he can finally be compelled. Now.” He gripped his throat again and compelled him once more, “Minus the stake that’s in my brother, how many more stakes are out there that can kill me?”</p><p>Damon held back from answering for a few brief moments before saying, “Eleven.”</p><p>“Eleven, not eight,” Hilda growled immediately, turning to Stefan. “You really shouldn’t have lied…”</p><p>“I’ll get you the other three,” he said quickly.</p><p>“Yeah, that’ll be nice,” Klaus snapped. “Or since you lied, maybe I'll just compel your brother to chew out his own tongue.”</p><p>Stefan was disgusted. “What is wrong with you?”</p><p>“What is wrong with you?!” Klaus shouted. “Do you really have no appreciation for me? I have given you someone to hate, to loathe, a target for all of your anger; so you don't have to turn it on yourself. I have given your life purpose, as your friend.” He began to laugh. “I really think you should be thanking me.”</p><p>Stefan sped to Klaus, pinning him against the wall, a White Oak stake in hand, ready to be plunged into his heart. Klaus caught his wrist. “Step down, or you both die,” he sneered as Hilda moved behind Stefan, leaving him trapped.</p><p>Stefan loosened his grip immediately, and Hilda snatched the stake out of his hand. “Bring us the rest,” she growled in his ear as he released her brother. </p><p>“This is ridiculous,” said Rebekah, going forward and releasing Damon from the traps. He fell to his knees. “And before either of you complain, brother and sister, I brought him here. I get to release him. My rules now.” She faced Stefan. “Bring us the stakes and you both live. Take your brother as a sign of good faith.”</p><p>Rebekah picked up the duffle bag and walked off. Hilda wasn’t quite done. She grabbed Stefan by the scruff of his neck. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t murder you right now,” she spat.</p><p>“I have information,” Stefan said without hesitation. “About what happened to Finn.”</p><p>“Spill,” she demanded, releasing him. </p><p>“An hour after Finn died, so did Sage, and another vampire that she had turned. We have reason to believe that when an Original dies, everyone from their bloodline dies, too.”</p><p>Klaus moved forward. “You’ve said your piece. Now bring us the stakes. All of them. Or I will wage a war against everyone you love. I hope I'm being clear.”</p><p>Stefan nodded, and grabbed Damon before speeding away.</p><p>“So Finn is dead,” whispered Hilda as the two walked over to the parlor, where Rebekah awaited them.</p><p>“Good riddance,” said Klaus savagely. “He was an embarrassment.”</p><p>Hilda glared at him. “He was still our brother.”</p><p>“Yes, yes, you needn’t elaborate on the fact that you’re the only one that ever spoke with him on good terms. Let’s say a prayer for Finn, shall we? He who slept in a box longer than he lived as a man. A lovesick fool. He's better off in death.”</p><p>Hilda threw him back, and Klaus immediately rushed toward her, slamming her into the wall, his eyes flashing golden. </p><p>“Bite me,” challenged Hilda. “I’m appalled to hear you speak of our brother like that in death. Is that what you would say of us, if we died?”</p><p>“Let’s see,” he sneered. “Rebekah let the Salvatores loose with two stakes that can kill us, so I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” He turned to Rebekah. “And since when did you have a soft spot for them?”</p><p>“The Salvatores may fight like dogs, but in the end they would die for each other,” she said. “At least they know what family means. You destroyed ours.”</p><p>Klaus released Hilda. “I wanted a family. They just didn't want me, and now we're unlinked we're no longer responsible for each other.”</p><p>“So, are you leaving?” asked Rebekah.</p><p>“As soon as I get my stakes, I'm gone. I'm gonna take Elena and use her blood to create a new family. Of hybrids.”</p><p>Rebekah and Hilda shared a look. “What if we want to stay?” asked Rebekah quietly.</p><p>“Then you’re just as pathetic as Finn,” he spat before walking away.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Within an hour, Hilda was on a plane to Denver, Colorado.</strong>
</p><p>She missed Kol too much, and wanted to see him. After not even getting to see Finn’s body, she wanted to be with the one brother who had always stood by her side. </p><p>It brought her comfort whenever she got a chance to see her twin. Even though they'd never really been apart, he could always put a smile on her face. He had her back no matter what. He was the only one of her siblings that really understood her. He reminded her most of Henrik, the baby brother that she missed dearly. Kol kept her motivated and was really the only reason she had stuck with the others as long as this. If they wanted to leave, they would only leave together, at the risk of being daggered together. He was her other half, and the only brother she could trust. Elijah always tried to act like the parent, and she hated it. Klaus was just a dick. Finn, well, he wanted to get them all killed. And Hilda wasn't buddy buddy with Rebekah, either. </p><p>She found Kol right where he said he lived, in a small apartment near a motel and a park with batting cages. He was fast asleep, and it was quite easy to sneak in undetected. It was past midnight already, and she chose not to wake him. Climbing into the bed beside him, she curled up under the covers.</p><p>He awoke to her sitting on an armchair by the window, drinking some vodka. “Hilly?” he said groggily. “What the—”</p><p>“I came to see you, Kol,” she said, standing up as he rubbed his eyes. “Finn is dead.”</p><p>Kol blinked sleepily. “Good riddance, I say.”</p><p>Hilda growled. “You and Nik are terrible. We’ve got some information, too. When an Original dies, so does their entire sireline.”</p><p>“Hang on a minute,” said Kol. “Doesn’t that mean that if Mother had succeeded in killing us when we were linked…”</p><p>“She would have eradicated the entire vampire species,” confirmed Hilda.</p><p>Kol swore loudly. “We dodged a bloody White Oak bullet with that unlinking spell we managed to make.”</p><p>“Yes, we did. We were unlinked just before Finn was killed. Another moment too late and…”</p><p>“Goodbye, vampires,” muttered Kol. “Let me just freshen up, Hilly, and we can go get breakfast. After, we’ll go to the park. You can meet Jeremy Gilbert. Maybe, you’ll take a better fancy to him than that teacher you haven’t yet gotten in bed.”</p><p>“If you think I’m going to choose a sixteen or seventeen year old boy—”</p><p>“It’s just a suggestion.”</p><p>He was ready within five minutes, and they drove down to the diner near the motel to get some eggs and toast before going to the park, where Jeremy had apparently been completing a morning walk of his dog.</p><p>“Hello, mate,” said Kol as they appeared at his side. </p><p>Jeremy took out the earbuds he’d been wearing. “Hey. Is this—?”</p><p>“The devilish twin sister I’ve told you about? Yes.”</p><p>Hilda awkwardly extended her arm. She was completely unenthusiastic. “Hilda, nice to meet you.”</p><p>Jeremy smiled and shook her hand. “Jeremy. Are you uh, moving over here? Kol told me your family is from Louisiana.”</p><p>“Just visiting,” she said rather blandly. Kol pinched her arm. “Now, now, Hilly, be nice.”</p><p>She cast him a fake smile, and to her surprise, Jeremy laughed. “Wow, she’s just as pessimistic as you, if not more.”</p><p>Kol smirked. “Yes, she is. And she controls her temper a wee bit better. How about going to the batting cages this afternoon. Four o’clock, you think?”</p><p>“Sure,” said Jeremy. “We can go to dinner after, if you two would like. My treat.”</p><p>Kol seemed pleased to hear this. “Yes, my very <em>single</em> sister would very much enjoy that.”</p><p>Hilda glared at him as if to say, ‘I will murder you,’ before turning to Jeremy and half-smiling. “Sure. As long as you both shower after. Dunno if you’ve smelt it yet, but Kol tends to reek of garbage whenever he breaks a sweat.”</p><p>“He’s pretty good at it,” Jeremy noted. “Doesn’t break as much of a sweat as me.”</p><p>“Must be because he’s so pale,” Hilda said with a cheeky grin. “Pale and wimpy.”</p><p>“Careful, sister, or I’ll feed you to Jeremy’s wolf descendant here.”</p><p>Hilda glanced down at the golden retriever, and waved at it awkwardly. She had never had a pet, and never really knew how to act around them. “Er— hello.”</p><p>“His name is Sammy,” said Jeremy. “I think he wants you to pet him.”</p><p>Hilda grimaced as Sammy turned in a circle, and put her hand softly on his head. “Sorry, golden thing, I don’t do well with animals, but I hope that suffices.”</p><p>Kol snickered. “Well, we’ll see you, Jeremy. Four o’clock.”</p><p>Jeremy nodded and put his earbuds back in. “Definitely. Nice to meet you, Hilda.” He jogged off with the dog.</p><p>“He’s such a loser,” said Kol dramatically. “You should sleep with him out of pity. Put it on your taxes as charity work.”</p><p>“You’re an idiot,” Hilda told him. “He’s a <em>child</em>. I’m not sleeping with him. Now come on, let’s get a smoothie or something, I’m craving.”</p><p>Kol shook his head. “Let’s get something better, first. Come.” He took her hand and sped them away, back to the apartment complex. He knocked at the door of his neighbor, and a young woman opened. “Let us in, will you, love?”</p><p>“Come in,” she said immediately. Kol pulled Hilda inside, and once the door shut, he took the woman and pulled her hair behind her shoulders. “Wait until you have a taste of this one. She’s heavenly in more ways than one.”</p><p>Hilda raised a skeptical brow before leaning forward and biting into the woman’s neck. The poor girl gave a soft gasp, and Hilda moaned out in pleasure at the taste of her blood. “This is one of the rare blood types, hmm?” she murmured as she fed a bit more. “Damn, this is amazing…”</p><p>“A perfect welcome to Denver present from your favorite brother,” said Kol smugly, spreading his arms wide. “There are others I can take you too, as well. I’ve been around already and I know exactly which ones you’ll like.</p><p>“One of the perks of having basically the same taste buds,” she said as she finally let the woman go. She motioned for Kol to do his bit to heal her, and as usual, he bit into his wrist and let the woman drink.</p><p>This was normal. Kol or Hilda would find someone with good tasting blood. They’d introduce said person to the other twin. They’d feed, and Kol would always heal the victims, since Hilda didn’t want anyone with her blood in their system. That way, if the person happened to die with the blood still in their system, they'd be Kol's sirelings, and not his twin sister. Hilda prided herself on not having sired anyone. She was not responsible for anyone succumbing to the same fate. </p><p>At four o’clock, after indulging in both smoothies and some excellent throats, the twins made their way to the batting cages. Rather than seeing only Jeremy inside with a bat, they saw him speaking to Damon and Elena from a distance, both going silent to listen in.</p><p>“Katherine sired us,” Damon was saying. “Rose sired Katherine. All we need to do is find out who sired Rose.”</p><p>“So, you traveled across the country to get me to talk to a dead vampire?” Jeremy asked.</p><p>“Dead vampire is redundant, but yes,” replied Damon.</p><p>“Well, I can’t. I could talk to Anna and Vicki because I knew them. I've never even met Rose.”</p><p>Damon scoffed. “What good is you dying and coming back to life if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you to?”</p><p>“Rose spent a long time running from Klaus as well,” said Elena. “She and Damon were close, so maybe we can use him as a connection.”</p><p>Jeremy looked up just as Hilda and Kol entered his field of vision. “Fine, fine, but can we do this later? My friend and his sister just got here and yes, Damon, I actually have some. I'll call you when I'm done.”</p><p>He walked toward them, and Kol picked up a nearby wooden bat, slinging it over his shoulder as Damon and Elena turned around. “Hey, man,” said Jeremy. “Hilda, good to—”</p><p>“Damon, it’s the twins!” gasped Elena once she realized who they were.</p><p>Hilda made a pouty face. “Aw, is the wittle doppelganger scared of a few twinsies? I thought your daddy was a doctor. Twins shouldn't terrify you.”</p><p>Kol sped forward and hit Damon across the head with the bat, causing it to break in half as Damon fell to the ground, Elena jumping back in fear.</p><p>“What are you doing?!” cried Jeremy.</p><p>“Jeremy, get back, they’re Originals!” said Elena.</p><p>“What?” Jeremy said in disbelief.</p><p>“No hard feelings, mate,” said Kol. “But we’re not buds. And with my sister here… even less so.”</p><p>Hilda pulled out an aluminum bat from the rack and tossed it to her brother as she patted Jeremy’s cheek, winking in amusement as Kol observed the bat. Elena was paralyzed in fear, and Damon was still groaning on the ground. “You know, I’ll never get used to aluminum,” Kol said. “But hey, at least it won’t break.”</p><p>Just as he swung the bat, Damon got up, dodging and shoving both halves of the broken wooden bat into each twin’s chest, making them both croak and crash to the ground.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>When they revived, it was already nighttime. Hilda was the first to awaken, and with a grunt, she yanked the wooden piece out before pulling the other half out of Kol.</p><p>His eyes snapped open. “Those little bastards,” he sneered. “We’ll get them. They’re going to be looking for who sired that Rose girl— the one who helped Katherine escape.”</p><p>“Mary Porter,” recited Hilda knowingly. “I remember her. She was obsessed with us for awhile.”</p><p>Kol rubbed his hands together. “Now that they know that vampires will die when the Original who began the line dies, they’re going to be frantic, finding out which one of us they can’t kill. You’re naturally safe— everyone knows you haven’t got a sireline. But the rest of us… well, I suppose we’ll have to safeguard that information. They can’t find out that Klaus turned Mary. It’ll be their worst nightmare either way… the Original they hate most… the originator of their line. Oh, how lovely the predicament.”</p><p>“Let’s find her, then,” said Hilda. “It can’t be that long after four o’clock. We should be able to locate her fairly quickly. Know any witches in the vicinity?” </p><p>“Yes. But we haven’t got anything belonging to Mary.”</p><p>“We were both close enough with her. Your witch should be able to pull through.”</p><p>Kol nodded, and picked up the aluminum bat. “Alright. Let’s go then, Hilly.” He sped the two of them away.</p><p>They arrived at a more run-down apartment complex at the edge of Denver. They could hear voices inside— young women and men speaking to each other. They were singing a song, and Hilda recognized it.</p><p>“No bloody way,” she said. “You know witches that still practice Hoodoo and Voodoo? From the old Creole Covens?”</p><p>“That’s right, sister. I have my sources. They can't speak more than a couple phrases in Creole, but they uphold all traditions.” He knocked on the door. “It’s Kol.”</p><p>Almost immediately, a young man opened the door, bowing as if Kol was a god to them. Hilda suspected Kol had likely written them a good few spells to have for future reference, as a gift and payment for their services. “My friends,” he said, extending his arms. “My lovely sister, Hilda, here to meet you all at last.”</p><p>The witches nodded their heads respectfully to her. Clearly, he had told them about her. “We need a Locator Spell, my darlings, to find a very dear friend of ours.”</p><p>“Personal items?” inquired one. </p><p>“Nothing,” said Hilda. “Can you do it based on our emotional connection?”</p><p>They nodded. “Won’t be exact,” another said. “But close.”</p><p>“That’ll be good enough,” said Kol respectfully as he and Hilda knelt in front of a smaller table where candles were lit. One of the witches brought out a map and spread it out. The others milled about, bringing herbs and laying them out, speaking some words in Creole as they prepared to do the spell. Linking hands, they looked up at Kol and Hilda, who each bit into their palms, dripping some blood onto the map on the same place. </p><p>“Mary Porter, a vampire,” said Kol. </p><p>The witches began to chant in the form of a song, <em>“Situer mari, invenio hadad tajid, ostiarius hamal trouver. Situer mari, invenio hadad tajid, ostiarius hamal trouver.”</em></p><p>The blood began to move from where it had fallen, nearest Nevada, and flooding toward the state of Kansas. </p><p>“Perfect,” said Hilda as the witches began to chant. “That means she’s still at that terrible little house she bought in 1907.”</p><p>The twins bowed their heads respectfully to the witches, thanking them before speeding out. They went to Kansas as fast as they could manage, knowing that they would be a bit tired upon arrival, but that it was imperative they arrived before Damon and Elena had a chance to find out that Mary Porter was the one who had sired Rose.</p><p>It was pitch black outside when they arrived. Kol and Hilda crept up to the house, and without bothering to knock, opened the door. They walked right to where they expected Mary’s room would be, finding that she was asleep, in her nightgown.</p><p>Kol sped forward and yanked her up. Before the woman could reach, Hilda had torn off the leg of a nearby chair and run the wood through her heart, slamming her right into the wall and staking her into it. Mary gave a hoarse gasp as she began to desiccate.</p><p>“That was easy enough,” said Hilda pleasantly. “Now, we wait.”</p><p>“In the meantime, what’s with this Alaric fellow?” asked Kol, sitting on Mary’s bed.</p><p>Hilda sighed. “I mean, he’s attractive. But he doesn’t seem interested in me at all. Bummer.”</p><p>“You could do much better than him. You simply choose not to indulge. You’re allowed to be happy, you know? You don’t always have to be looking out for me while I have all the fun.”</p><p>She shrugged as she sat with him. “I dunno, no one really calls my attention often. There was always something important to do. When we were traveling, I never let myself pay attention to anyone because I knew it was temporary. I’ve never really felt like I belonged anywhere, and there was no sense in attaching myself to someone when they wouldn’t be along for the ride. You and I always had to be running and working on something. Or we were just… daggered. The only time I was tempted was with that girl… the Claire witch who was helping us in 1914. But she got stuck in that Fauline Cottage. I actually really liked her, but maybe it was just the one near sexual experience… I don’t know.”</p><p>Kol furrowed his eyebrows. “Are you alluding to being… romantically interested in that mortal?”</p><p>“No, not at all. But he intrigues me. And if I want to sleep with him, I want him to trust me, you know?”</p><p>Kol obviously didn’t know, because he and his brothers were used to mostly coercing women into bed with them whenever they couldn’t charm them. But he nodded all the same. “You and your moral compass, sister. Luckily, even though we’re a pair of psychopaths, you have enough of a conscience to go about things this way. You’re still pretty terrible.”</p><p>“You’re more terrible. You tried to get me to go to bed with Jeremy Gilbert.”</p><p>“Do you really think he’s that bad? He had two cute girlfriends in the past— Anna and Vicky…”</p><p>“Did he show you pictures?”</p><p>“Yes. They were quite pretty.”</p><p>The twins suddenly froze at the sound of movement outside. They heard distant voices, and then, Damon and Elena coming through the front door.</p><p>“Oof, like Vampire Hoarders,” Damon was saying from the other room.</p><p>“Who is this Mary person?” asked Elena.</p><p>“Scary Mary,” said Damon. “She’s really old, super creepy.”</p><p>“And how do you know her?”</p><p>“I dated her.”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>“What? I said creepy, not ugly.”</p><p>Hilda and Kol shared a look, and both twins grabbed the object nearest them and chucked it across the room. Hilda could hear Elena’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated, light flashing through the doorway, presumably from the flashlight she was holding. The footsteps neared, and Damon and Elena entered the room, flashing the beam over where Mary was staked.</p><p>“Mary,” murmured Damon.</p><p>Kol flicked on the lamp, the bat on his lap. “Quite contrary.”</p><p>“Shame about Mary,” said Kol, walking over to her as Damon shielded Elena from him. “She used to be a blast.”</p><p>“Don’t quite know what happened,” Hilda chimed in, standing up. “I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her.”</p><p>“She was a bit of an Original groupie,” Kol explained.</p><p>“Were you her favorite?” asked Elena suspiciously.</p><p>Kol smirked. “You mean, did I turn her? I think I did. But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah.”</p><p>“There was also a Klaus period,” Hilda mused. “And the Elijah affair… we know you’re trying to find out who you descended from. Now you never will.”</p><p>“You can take comfort, at least, in knowing it wasn’t Hilly,” said Kol, shouldering the bat. “Now, you only have to determine whether it was me, or one of my other three siblings. So... where did we leave off?”</p><p>He swung the bat, hitting Damon’s leg and making him cry out in pain as he crumpled down. Kol slammed the bat down again, and Damon coughed. “Elena— get out of here!”</p><p>Hilda sped to the doorway and blocked her path before the girl could even leave the room. “Klaus says you’re off limits, so don’t test me.” She shoved her back to the ground, and Damon sped up, gripping Hilda by the throat. “Don’t touch her.”</p><p>Kol tore him off. “Hands off my sister,” he snarled, punching Damon and tossing the bat to Hilda. Kol moved aside as she slammed the bat down on Damon’s chest. “It appears we’ve hit a nerve, hmm, Kol?”</p><p>“Yes we have, Hilda,” said Kol as she struck Damon again before handing the bat to him once more. “Heh. Relax, darling, we just want to be even.”</p><p>“You snapped Kol’s neck,” Hilda recited, counting on her fingers as Kol hit Damon repeatedly with the bat. “You punched me. You killed our brother. You humiliated us. You were acting quite suspicious yesterday…” she held her hand out. “Let me have another turn, Kol. Maybe I can’t bleed him dry like Rebekah did, but I can get in a good hit.” </p><p>The instant the bat came back into her palm, she slammed it down onto Damon’s head, ignoring the cries of shock from Elena, who was watching in horror. One more hit, before she shouldered the bat. “There, I think we’re even now, wouldn’t you say, Kol?”</p><p>“I think so, sister,” said Kol, waving maliciously at Elena. The twins walked out casually, managing to hear Damon still grunting in pain after Elena presumably helped him to his feet.</p><p>“Remind me,” they heard Damon pant, “that next time, we get Psychotic Thing One and Thing Two apart before trying to put up a fight.”</p><p>Hilda smirked. “I like that. Psychotic Thing One and Thing Two. Were’s that from?”</p><p>“I believe it’s from someone called Dr. Seuss. Not really sure, to be honest. Where do we go from here?”</p><p>“We can head back to Mystic Falls, if you’d like.”</p><p>“You know what would be nice? To stop in New Orleans. Even just to look. I liked that city. I wonder what it’s like nowadays.”</p><p>“I still can’t believe what Klaus told us the other day about how in 1919, Rebekah helped lure Mikael into the city. Poor Marcel needn’t have died. But then again, this family just always attracts trouble.”</p><p>“New Orleans might not be safe, then. Bummer. But we’ll visit again, someday. The Claire tomb should have remained untouched thus far. There should be another little witch that can help us open it, in the future.”</p><p>Hilda’s phone began to ring, and she looked down. “It’s Nik.” She picked up. “Yes?”</p><p>“Anything to report?”</p><p>“We killed Mary Porter, the vampire who turned that Rose girl. Now, they won’t know who sired their line, so we still have an advantage.”</p><p>“How goes it with the White Oak?” asked Kol.</p><p>Klaus sighed. “We should have the very last of it by morning. Rebekah is retrieving it from Alaric Saltzman.”</p><p>Kol wiggled his eyebrows, and Hilda made to respond, before Klaus added, “Not to worry, Hilly, I’m sure she won’t kill him before you get into his pants. And she won’t steal him from you. We all know she likes it better when they look more her age.”</p><p>“If she dares to stab me in the back like that again, I won’t give a damn about rubbing in the fact that it’s practically her fault that Mikael killed Marcel.”</p><p>Both Klaus and Kol laughed sadistically. “Oh, sister, you know how to bite back,” crooned Klaus. “Will you be returning to Mystic Falls to finish business, or will you stay in Denver?”</p><p>The twins shared a look and in unison, replied, “Returning.”</p><p>“Just to see if we have some last minute fun,” said Kol. “I think Hilly is still <em>very</em> open to killing Damon Salvatore. After all, I expect you’re going to kidnap the doppelganger girl, yes? The brothers will fight for her.”</p><p>Klaus chuckled on the other line. “Perfect. Perhaps, if Hilda behaves, we’ll let her choose a plus one for the trip.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>They arrived back to Klaus’s Mansion by the time Rebekah had returned with the last of the White Oak.</strong>
</p><p>“Perfect, Bex is here, too,” said Kol just as he and Hilda strode in to where Klaus was painting, seeing Rebekah has walked in right ahead of them.</p><p>Rebekah smiled at her siblings. “The last of the white oak stakes that can kill us. Who wants to do the honors?”</p><p>“Me,” said Hilda, holding out her hand. Rebekah handed it to her, and Hilda tossed it right into the fireplace, watching the flames engulf it. </p><p>Rebekah was pleased. “Well, that’s that, then.”</p><p>“Pack your bags and get any last minute business sorted out,” said Klaus. “We’re leaving.”</p><p>“Today?” she asked, looking almost sad.</p><p>“Why not? There's nothing keeping us here. We'll grab the doppelganger and be off by sunset.”</p><p>“But tonight is the Decade Dance!” whined Rebekah.</p><p>The twins shared a look of distaste. “The what?”</p><p>“The Decade Dance! I’m head of the committee and I’ve been doing all the planning— we have to go!”</p><p>“Is that one of those cheesy high school excuses to dance all pressed together?” asked Hilda.</p><p>“If it is, I have no intention of going to any dance,” said Kol.</p><p>“Nor do I,” added Klaus.</p><p>Rebekah frowned. “You have to go. For me, please. Caroline will be there, Klaus. And I think that brunette you were dancing with at the party, Kol. Not to mention, that teacher Hilda fancies might be there, now that he’s better.”</p><p>The three siblings looked around, none very excited about the prospect of indulging in their baby sister’s request.</p><p>“Okay, fine,” muttered Klaus. “Only if the twins are going. One last hoorah.”</p><p>Rebekah smiled in triumph.  “One last hoorah. The theme is the Roaring Twenties, so you better dress accordingly.”</p><p>She began to walk out when the twins began to protest. “We weren’t around in the twenties!” said Kol indignantly. “You have to show us what to bloody wear.”</p><p>“Look it up, you two have phones now!” said Rebekah. “Unless you’d rather I drag you to set everything up.”</p><p>The twins decided it was better to consult Klaus and their devices than accompany Rebekah.</p><p>Klaus sighed dejectedly, realizing the twins were going to need his help. “Fine, fine, I will show you where to find outfits. But I expect no hesitation when we leave later. You will owe it to me.”</p><p>“Yes, brother, we will,” said Hilda, nudging Kol as they watched Klaus roll his eyes. </p><p>It was more fun than expected. Klaus could talk for hours on end about the artistic aesthetic aspects of the 1920s, and it gave the twins a very good idea of what to wear. Kol, of course, was going to go with something more formal anyway, but Hilda found a very nice flowy dress that wasn’t a flapper, which Klaus thought would be fitting for the theme. She even convinced him to paint some flowers from the garden for her to put in her hair. </p><p>Once evening set in, the three headed to the school. They felt out of place, of course, since none of them were enrolled at the high school to begin with, but they supposed that no one would really care that they were there. They found the gymnasium filled with decorations, which was a bit much, in Hilda’s opinion, but she tried to pay it no heed, and instead peered around for Rebekah.</p><p>“Where the bloody hell is she?” asked Kol impatiently as they started moving through the crowd.</p><p>“Knowing her, behind the scenes, nitpicking every detail we won’t even see,” muttered Hilda.</p><p>Klaus was, momentarily, not looking for Rebekah. “Ah, there’s Caroline. It’s time you twins meet Tyler— the boy with her. My hybrid sireling.”</p><p>“Ooh, a wolf boy,” Hilda said teasingly.</p><p>“Klaus, how did you manage to find a sireling that was handsomer than you?” Kol added playfully. </p><p>Klaus growled. “Don’t you dare.”</p><p>He walked up to Caroline and Tyler, who were slow dancing quite intimately. Tyler was the first to notice them, and his jaw twitched visibly. </p><p>“Where’ve you been, mate?” asked Klaus as Tyler stepped back from a very flustered Caroline.</p><p>“I just got back in town,” said Tyler simply.</p><p>“That’s funny, I don’t recall giving you permission to leave in the first place. You don’t mind if I cut in, do you?”</p><p>Caroline scoffed. “Yes, actually, we do!”</p><p>Kol and Hilda snickered, but Klaus wasn’t about to back down. Glaring at Tyler, he kept his jaw set, and the younger hybrid stepped even further away. “No, it’s fine.”</p><p>Caroline seemed like she might lose her head. “Why do you always have to prove that you’re the alpha male?” she snapped at Klaus.</p><p>He smirked. “I don’t have to prove anything, love. I am the alpha male. Come on, one dance. I won’t bite.”</p><p>Casting Tyler a sad look, she reluctantly accepted to dance with Klaus. Kol gave a bored sigh and patted Hilda’s shoulder. “I think I saw my brunette. Let me go feed. This is stupid and trashy. Get me if you find Bex.”</p><p>Hilda nodded, and walked behind Tyler, who headed over to the punch table. Hilda had no desire to indulge in punch, but she wanted a conversation. “It must suck to have to do what he says,” she asked boredly as she leaned on the table. “I would hate being sired to him. He’s already enough of an arse as my brother.”</p><p>Tyler pursed his lips. “Well, he’s my sire. I have to be respectful.”</p><p>She looked at him almost suspiciously. “It’s not about respect. He’s ordering you about. You physically can’t resist him. I would never respect anyone like that.”</p><p>“Yeah, that.” He glared to where Klaus was having some sort of conversation with Caroline. “Does your brother really not have anyone else to be interested in? Why does he have to pick her?”</p><p>“Honestly, he has a big thing for blondes. She’s a fiery little thing and he likes a challenge. Every woman he’s had a more serious infatuation for are a lot like her. They don’t submit to him. He likes the idea of a chase— of fighting for their attention and affection."</p><p>Tyler huffed. “Your entire family is terrible.”</p><p>She smirked in amusement. “We are, yes.”</p><p>“I mean, your twin brother broke my friend Matt’s hand. Klaus and Elijah have caused enough problems. And Rebekah—”</p><p>“Have you seen her?” interrupted Hilda. “I assume you’ve been here awhile. She made us come to this stupid event and I don’t see her anywhere.”</p><p>Tyler shook his head. “Nope. I’d rather stay away from her.”</p><p>“So would I,” said Hilda, seeing Klaus stepping away from Caroline. “There, go get your girl.” She walked off to her brother. “Tyler hasn’t seen Rebekah. Is she even here? I don’t sense her anywhere.”</p><p>Klaus growled at the news and pulled out his phone, dialing Rebekah’s number. No phone rang in the nearby vicinity (that they could hear) and the call eventually went to voicemail. “Rebekah, call me back immediately! We only came to this ridiculous dance because you begged us to, and now you’re nowhere to be found!” He hung up. “Get Kol. We’re leaving.”</p><p>Hilda turned back and once she located Kol in the crowd, sped over, prying him off of the young brunette he’d been feeding on discreetly, dancing with her and pretending he was kissing her neck. “Let’s get out of this wretched place,” she said, yanking at his shirt. </p><p>“Mmm.” He detached himself and turned the girl around, biting into his wrist and letting her drink his blood to be healed before tilting her head up and looking her in the eyes. “Go clean the blood off your neck and come back as though nothing happened.”</p><p>He then turned to Hilda and the twins went to where Klaus had exited the gym. The three walked out together, back to the parking lot, but noticed there was a line of salt on the ground. The twins tried to cross it, and found themselves hitting an invisible barrier.</p><p>“What is this?” asked Klaus darkly.</p><p>“A salt barrier,” murmured Kol. “Some witch is keeping vampires trapped here. But… why?”</p><p>They turned at the sound of approaching footsteps. “Your mother is back,” Stefan Salvatore told them.</p><p>Hilda sneered. “Rebekah,” she whispered. “She body jumped into Rebekah… we were fooled. Esther has Elena.”</p><p>Klaus gritted his teeth and faced Stefan. “Where is that Bennett witch?” he demanded.</p><p>“In a classroom, preparing to break the spell,” said Stefan. “You’re welcome to join if you’ll be on your best behavior.”</p><p>“Don’t tell us how to act,” Hilda snapped. “We’ll act in any way we want to.”</p><p>Stefan said nothing and walked back into the school. The three Originals followed to where Bonnie Bennett and an unfamiliar face were joined by Damon Salvatore and Jeremy Gilbert. </p><p>“How far along is she?” demanded Klaus as the twins stepped forward. The two observed and pursed their lips. “Close enough underway.”</p><p>There was movement in the doorway as Matt Donovan came in. “People are walking right out of the dance, past the barrier.”</p><p>“Matt and I can leave, we can stop Esther ourselves,” said Jeremy. “We just gotta find out where she is.”</p><p>“It’s suicide, Jeremy,” said Stefan.</p><p>Impatient, Klaus scoffed and rushed over to the unfamiliar boy next to Bonnie, grabbing him by the throat and beginning to strangle him. “Suicide would be disappointing me! Now work your magic, witch, or I'll start killing people you fancy.”</p><p>“Let him go!” Bonnie yelled.</p><p>“Not until you get us out of here,” Klaus sneered.</p><p>Stefan tapped his shoulder. “Don't be stupid, Klaus. Bonnie doesn't give a damn about us. The only reason she's helping us right now is to save Caroline and Tyler. You start killing the people she cares about, she'll tell us all to go to hell.”</p><p>Reluctantly, Klaus released the boy, and the twins peered over at the spell Bonnie was writing out. “Wrong, love,” said Kol, shoving her side and snatching the pen from her. “You new witches need to do some studying from other covens and not just your own.”</p><p>“Excuse me?” snapped Bonnie. “I’ve done it before, exactly like this.”</p><p>“He’s not saying you’re incompetent, he’s saying you’re inexperienced,” said Hilda dryly as she peered over at what her brother was doing. “There are shortcuts you can take.”</p><p>Bonnie snatched the paper away from Kol, tearing it down the middle. His eyes flared up, but Stefan blocked his way to Bonnie. “Let her do it,” he said sharply. Kol scoffed, obviously wanting to fight, but deciding it wasn’t the time for that, if they were trapped there.</p><p>It didn’t take much longer for Bonnie to be ready. Matt and Jeremy joined Stefan in going to speak with Caroline and Tyler, while Bonnie’s friend went to relax elsewhere (probably to not be choked again). </p><p>The Bennett witch spread a map of Mystic Falls on the desk, using blood that Jeremy had given them in order to find his sister. Damon, Klaus, Kol, and Hilda remained rigid and silent, waiting for her to complete the spell, which obviously made her nervous.</p><p>“I have to do this with you four lurking over me?” she muttered.</p><p>Damon raised a brow. “You're still mad at me for what happened to Abby. Let me apologize. I'm sorry Elijah forced us to turn your mother into a vampire to save Elena's life. Didn't exactly have a choice.”</p><p>“There’s always a choice,” said Bonnie coldly. “Whenever you make one someone else suffers.”</p><p>“Please, love, quit whining,” said Kol. “We want out.”</p><p>“And I need my doppelganger,” Klaus added.</p><p>Damon whipped his head toward him. “Okay, for starters, she’s not your doppelganger—”</p><p>“Right, I forgot you feel like you have ownership over her because you snogged her,” Hilda said loudly. “I heard all about your little lip locking in Denver.”</p><p>“I can’t even be insulted because you used a stupid word like ‘snogging—’”</p><p>Klaus growled. “Let's cut the dramatics and begin, shall we?” </p><p>Bonnie rolled her eyes and poured the blood onto the map, beginning to chant, <em>“Phasmatos tribum nas ex veras, sequita sanguines, ementas asten mihan ega petous.”</em></p><p>The blood gathered into a circular pool but remained stationary.</p><p>“Esther is fighting me,” Bonnie said, furrowing her brows.</p><p>“She can’t have that much bloody power,” Hilda said darkly. “She’s channeling something.”</p><p>Klaus crossed his arms. “Get the humans ready. I know where she is.” He walked off toward the gym, and Damon followed. The twins remained stationary, and Bonnie looked away.</p><p>“Scared, little witch?” purred Kol, coming over and putting both hands on the desk. “We won’t bite. Hilly and I harbor a great respect for witches, especially from the Bennett line. We wouldn’t harm a hair on that pretty head.”</p><p>Bonnie refrained from looking at him. “And like most witches, she’s not inclined to like vampires,” Hilda noted, smirking as she came to stand beside her brother. </p><p>“Do you two have nothing better to do?” Bonnie muttered.</p><p>“We really don’t, love,” said Kol. He peered over the map. “They’re going to try and incapacitate Esther, but in the meantime, we can craft a better spell to remove the boundary around the school. If she channels the two of us, she can break the boundary spell.”</p><p>Hilda held out her hand to Bonnie, who reluctantly handed her a pen and paper. The twins went to sit at the desk, their heads together and switching the pen back and forth so quickly that Bonnie nearly grew dizzy, watching them write it out. They stood in unison and returned to her, showing her what they’d written.</p><p>“Listen carefully, love,” said Kol. “Phasmatos trencar, barrera ex intermissum, ruptura claustra propatulus obice.”</p><p>Bonnie peered down at the paper and began to repeat. “Phasmatos trencar… barrera ex intermissum… ruptura claustra… popatulus obice.”</p><p>Hilda and Kol shared a look. “Just like Mary Alice,” they said at the same time. </p><p>“Who’s Mary Alice?”</p><p>“Just a witch Hilly and I had the hots for,” said Kol. “Chop chop, love, we haven’t got all night.”</p><p>Bonnie extended her hands, and each twin took one of her palms. Bonnie closed her eyes and drew a deep breath before beginning to chant, <em>“Phasmatos trencar, barrera ex intermissum, ruptura claustra popatulus obice. Phasmatos trencar, barrera ex intermissum, ruptura claustra popatulus obice.”</em></p><p>Each twin grimaced at the feeling of a tug in their gut, their power fueling the spell. But seconds later, the tug disappeared, and they knew the spell was complete.</p><p>“Fucking fantastic,” said Hilda, walking out of the classroom, Kol and Bonnie following behind. They found Klaus with Stefan and Damon near the boundary. </p><p>“It’s done,” said Bonnie. “The boundary spell is broken.”</p><p>Klaus reached his arm out tentatively. “Twins, home,” he said before speeding off.</p><p>“No place I’d rather be,” muttered Kol as he and Hilda sped back to the mansion.</p><p>They went right into the room where Klaus was still keeping the coffins, and found one was closed. They popped the lid and found Rebekah, daggered. Hilda pulled it out, and before Rebekah could revive, Klaus arrived, carrying a dead Esther. </p><p>He shoved her into one of the open coffins, glaring at her. “Your trap failed, Mother,” he said venomously. I live and I will go on living. Let your beloved spirits try to preserve you again, I dare you to come after me! I will build an army so big, no one will ever touch me. My survival will haunt you through eternity. You will never destroy me!”</p><p>The twins remained silent as he stepped back, slamming the lid shut. He brushed a hand through his hair and turned to Hilda. “You’ll want to see the Salvatore crypt in the old cemetery,” he said quietly. “Alaric Saltzman is dying.”</p><p>Hilda flinched. “What?”</p><p>“Mother was attempting to turn him into an Original. A vampire hunter that would kill us all. He is choosing not to complete the transition. He’ll be dead by the end of the night.”</p><p>He walked off, and Kol bit his lip, watching the color draining from Hilda’s face. He couldn’t understand why his sister was interested in Alaric (she didn’t quite understand it either), but this was clearly hitting her like a stab in the gut. </p><p>“You should go, Hilly,” said Kol. </p><p>“I’m the last person he’ll want to see,” she murmured, trying to convince herself that this shouldn’t matter. She shouldn’t feel any pity. No grief. And yet, for once, rather than being enraptured by the fragility of humans and using it to fuel her violence, she felt crestfallen. </p><p>“You should still go,” said Kol. “Even if you don’t speak to him.”</p><p>She chewed on her lip. “Alright.” She sped off. </p><p>She could hear a faint conversation from inside the crypt. Walking over, she tentatively reached for the door, but withdrew her hand. It felt wrong to try and see him. This was her mother’s fault.</p><p>And yet, her desires betrayed her. She pushed open the door, and the conversation occurring between Alaric and Damon stopped.</p><p>“Hilda,” said Alaric quietly, looking up at her. </p><p>“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, pretending Damon wasn’t there. “I had no idea she was going to do that.”</p><p>Alaric half-smiled. “It’s not your fault.”</p><p>“Yeah, she was too busy beating me with a bat in Denver,” said Damon under his breath, as if only wanting Alaric to hear, but of course, Hilda heard.</p><p>Her eyes flashed dark, but to her surprise, Alaric motioned for Damon to go. “Wait outside,” he told him. </p><p>Albeit shocked at his request, Damon got up and brushed past Hilda, whose cheeks were red, though it wasn’t obvious in the darkness of the crypt. “He’s telling the truth,” she said softly. “I did… beat him with a bat.”</p><p>“I know. I heard. Not the worst thing I’ve heard about you, surprisingly. I heard you dismembered someone once, and kept feeding them vampire blood so they’d heal enough not to die. You skinned them, partially, and gouged out his eyeballs.” </p><p>She let out a dry cough. “Let me guess. Esther told you.”</p><p>“In the form of Rebekah, yes.”</p><p>“I suppose she omitted the fact that the man had tried to… you know. It was one of the first times I was ever apart from Kol, and I'd gotten my neck snapped. After that… we never really separated again.”</p><p>Alaric’s jaw twitched, and it was confirmed that he hadn’t known. “That’s terrible,” he said softly. “That must have been really traumatizing.”</p><p>“It was. I… I use violence to cope with trauma. If I let myself be angry and aggressive, I won’t feel pain. I get it out of my system and never get tempted to turn off my humanity.”</p><p>“I can’t imagine how dangerous you and your brother would be if you turned it off. I think I’d piss my pants being near you.”</p><p>Hilda let out a soft laugh. She knelt in front of him, and he looked up sadly. “I really wish there was something I could have done,” she whispered. “If I had known what my mother was planning… I wouldn’t have gone to Denver.”</p><p>“You’re nicer than you give yourself credit for, Hilda. I… I see this sadness in you that you hide with cruelty. You’ve been hurt too much. I don’t know by how many people, but I’m guessing every century yields new wounds. I’m glad I got to see this side of you, even for a bit. I would have liked to get to know you better.”</p><p>She smiled, her lips trembling. “I would have liked to get to know you better, too,” she murmured. “I hope that you find peace.”</p><p>Alaric let his head lean back against the wall of the crypt. “I hope so too. Goodbye, Hilda. Thank you for coming.”</p><p>She stood, and nodded at him before speeding out past Damon and returning to the mansion. She found Kol in his room.</p><p>“I need to kill something,” she said, hands grasping her own arms tightly. “I need to feed, I need to tear some throats out. Please.”</p><p>He nodded. “Let’s go then, shall we, sister?”</p><p>They spent the rest of the evening as killers. In the cities surrounding Mystic Falls, they plucked victims off the streets and fed until the people were dead. With some, they drank until the blood loss was too great for the human to tolerate. With others, they tore out their throats immediately. All the bodies were gathered and put in dumpsters, catching fire. They didn’t care how young or old the victims were. Whether they had families or not. Hilda wanted destruction, she wanted them writhing in her grasp, she wanted to feel the life leave them, and hear them giving their final breaths, accepting that she was killing them.</p><p>Meanwhile, dead witches had forced Alaric to complete his transition.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Rebekah, seeing how miserable her sister was, dragged her to clean at Mystic Falls High School.</strong>
</p><p>“Why are we here, Bekah?” asked Hilda in annoyance. </p><p>“Because we need to clean the gymnasium and cafeteria after last night’s dance, Hilly.” She dragged her into the messy dining hall and picked up a trash bag. “You need a distraction, so here, have at it.”</p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes. “Thanks, sister, you’re the best,” she said sarcastically. </p><p>The two had only been cleaning for only a short while before Caroline arrived. “Where’s Matt?” she asked aloud.</p><p>“He bailed,” said Rebekah. “Got called into work at the last minute, so I brought Hilly with me.”</p><p>“Are you kidding me?” said Caroline. “So, it’s just us?”</p><p>Rebekah cast her an annoyed look. “Yes, and you’re late. Clean up committee started at eight o’clock.”</p><p>“It’s like, 8:02,” Caroline scoffed.</p><p>“Exactly,” said Rebekah. “I managed to turn up on time and I didn’t even get to attend the dance that <em>I</em> organized.”</p><p>Caroline wrung her hands together, looking as the two Originals moved about, tossing every decoration into their bags. “I’m sorry about your mom,” she said softly. “I mean, I know you like, hated her and everything, but still… I’m sorry.”</p><p>Hilda said nothing, but Rebekah looked at Caroline over her shoulder. “I’m sorry about your teacher. He seemed like a nice guy, from what Hilly told me.”</p><p>Caroline pursed her lips. “Yeah. He was.”</p><p>“I’m going to go clean the gym,” Hilda blurted out, dropping the bag she’d been filling. “Preferably, don’t join me until you’ve left this place shining.”</p><p>She walked out into the hallway, eyes shut and rubbing her arms as she tried to calm down. It was like an itch that wouldn’t go away. She wanted to kill everything in sight. She wanted to snarl and have blood running down her chin and dripping to the floor.</p><p>Next thing, her head was bashed into a locker, and she opened her eyes, startled, to see Alaric. </p><p>“What the—?” He raised a White Oak stake, and she only barely dodged, trying to throw him off, but he was too strong, and gripped her by the throat, making her wheeze as she tried to throw him off.</p><p>He was torn off of her by Rebekah and Caroline, who had heard the commotion. Rebekah took the stake from him and stabbed him in the side with it, making him yell in pain, and in the moment where he was distracted and looked down, the three vampires sped away.</p><p>“He’s supposed to be dead!” cried Rebekah as he and Hilda landed in the parking lot. The elder Original was rubbing her throat, the bruising only just now fading.</p><p>“He transitioned,” she croaked. “He—”</p><p>They heard a loud crashing noise and watched as Alaric, now out in the daylight, slammed Caroline’s head into her car in the moment that she fumbled with her keys, then snapped her neck. Rebekah yanked Hilda down behind one of the cars, and the two sisters watched as Alaric dragged the unconscious Caroline back into the school. There was smoke billowing over his skin— he was burning, without a daylight ring. And yet, he continued to trudge back into the building.</p><p>“Bloody fucking hell,” said Rebekah. “We’ve got to tell Nik.”</p><p>They sped back to the mansion, finding Klaus and Kol packing up the items in the house.</p><p>“Alaric Saltzman just tried to kill Hilda,” said Rebekah loudly as they entered.</p><p>Both brothers whipped their heads up. “Alaric Saltzman is supposed to be dead,” said Klaus.</p><p>“Well, he’s not,” said Hilda sharply. “He’s a vampire thanks to Mother’s spell, and he’s got a White Oak stake that can’t kill him. He’s strong. Too strong.”</p><p>“Where the bloody hell is he now?” asked Kol.</p><p>Rebekah bit her lip. “Stuck at the school without a daylight ring, but as soon as night falls, he’ll come after us. We need to leave now.”</p><p>Klaus nodded. “Fine. I’ll collect Elena, we’ll be on our way.”</p><p>Kol snorted. “I am not waiting for you to get your doppelganger. You don’t need any more stupid hybrids!”</p><p>“What I need is protection from Esther’s continued assaults against us!” Klaus snarled.</p><p>“We’ll protect each other, like we always have!” said Rebekah. “Always and forever, Nik.”</p><p>Klaus shook his head. “I’m not leaving without her.”</p><p>Rebekah stomped her foot down. “I’m leaving now. You can either walk out that door with me, or you’re on your own.”</p><p>Klaus remained silent, and Rebekah let out a growl. “Fine! Trust your hybrids over your family. Let your spite be the death of you, see if I care.” She walked out of the room, shoving past Tyler Lockwood, who was apparently helping with the boxes. “Move it, sire boy!”</p><p>“What’s her deal?” he muttered as Rebekah left the house. Klaus ignored him, facing the twins. “Well, are you joining her? I don’t give a damn.”</p><p>Kol nodded. “It’s insane to stay here another moment, Nik. I’m with Bex.” </p><p>Hilda hesitated. “I… I don’t want to go just yet.”</p><p>Kol and Klaus shared a look before facing her. “Well, make a choice quickly, sister,” Klaus said in a threatening manner. “Remain here and aid me in retrieving the doppelganger, or leave with your wretched beast of a twin.”</p><p>Hilda’s mouth felt dry. “Listen, I don’t want to leave Alaric like this.”</p><p>Kol groaned and covered his face. “For God’s sake, Hilda, you can’t be considering staying behind to help him? He’s practically got to humanity! He’s going to kill you if you get close to him!”</p><p>“Stay and help me,” coaxed Klaus. “We shall see what we do for your Alaric.”</p><p>Kol grunted and threw his hands in the air. “Fine.” He faced his sister. “But if you end up dead because you started to fall for a human you hardly know…”</p><p>“I’m not going to die, idiot. Just go ahead. I’ll meet you wherever you end up.”</p><p>Casting his siblings a look of skepticism, Kol sped off.</p><p>“To the Gilbert residence it is, then,” said Klaus, checking his watch. “Perfect.”</p><p>Klaus chose to drive. Slowly. It was the strangest thing to Hilda that he elected to take his time getting there. They parked right in front of the house and walked casually to the door, ringing the doorbell. Jeremy Gilbert opened, and Klaus smirked at him.</p><p>“What the hell do you two want?” said Jeremy coldly. </p><p>“Naught boy, is that any way to treat a guest?” said Hilda.</p><p>Stefan came up from behind him. “What are you doing here, Klaus?”</p><p>“Well, for starters, young Jeremy could show some manners and invite us inside,” answered the hybrid. Stefan moved to stand in front of Jeremy as Damon walked up. “Why don’t you go up to your room?”</p><p>“Now,” emphasized Damon. Jeremy went up the stairs, and Klaus sighed dramatically.</p><p>“Hm, poor lad. Loses one questionable father figure only to be replaced by the likes of the two of you.”</p><p>“About that,” said Damon. “Something happened.”</p><p>“We know,” said Hilda. “Our mother’s invulnerable little creation…”</p><p>“We’re leaving town,” announced Klaus. “Just need to pick up a few road trip necessities. Spare tire, flashlight, doppelganger.”</p><p>Damon was unamused. “Can’t help you there.” He clapped Stefan on the shoulder and shut the door right in Hilda and Klaus’s faces.</p><p>Hilda growled, and looked over at the front porch before going to where a newspaper lay on the sidewalk. Picking it up, she chucked it full force at the nearest window, and she heard a faint, “DUCK!” as it smashed through the glass and into the house.</p><p>Klaus smirked. “Good idea, sister.” He looked over at the house. “I think you’re probably gonna want to let us in!”</p><p>There was no response.</p><p>He walked over to the neighbor’s lawn and ran his hand over the white picket fence, ripping off two of the pickets. Hilda grabbed a soccer ball that resided on the grass and smirked, the two siblings sharing a look.</p><p>They walked toward the house, and Hilda kicked the ball up a bit, juggling it on her feet as she made her way to the walkway in front of the door. She raised it on her knee and let it fly into the air before kicking it full force right through the doorway, sending the door nearly off its hinges. It narrowly missed Damon’s head. Klaus threw one of the pickets through the opening, and Damon ducked right in time. “Missed me!” he yelled. He tore the picket off of where it lodged on the wall and threw it back at them. Hilda caught it, and both she and Klaus snapped the pickets in half before throwing the pieces back in, like spears.</p><p>“Missed me again!” yelled Damon.</p><p>“This is ridiculous,” said Klaus, handing Hilda the last picket and speeding off. She threw it in, hearing more glass shattering. Klaus reappeared at her side with a newspaper that’d been lit on fire, and a propane tank. </p><p>“Ooh, excellent choice,” she praised, the two walking toward the door as Stefan made his way toward them.</p><p>“Put it out,” said Stefan.</p><p>“Come outside and make me,” Klaus challenged.</p><p>Stefan didn’t hesitate to walk out. “Elena’s not here,” he said. “Alaric has her and Caroline and he's gonna kill them both unless you both turn yourselves over to him.”</p><p>Hilda faltered, and snatched the newspaper from Klaus, putting out the fire before tossing it aside. Her brother reluctantly dropped the propane tank.</p><p>“Now, I know you’re not asking us to walk into a certain death,” Klaus said lowly.</p><p>“I really wish we could,” Stefan said honestly. “But unfortunately, if Alaric kills you, Klaus, there's a one in four chance that we die too.”</p><p>Damon came out from behind him, with one of the picket halves over his shoulder. “I’ll take those odds.”</p><p>Stefan looked at him reproachfully. “And a hundred percent chance that Tyler dies.”</p><p>Damon shrugged. “I'm good with that too.”</p><p>“Why don’t we just figure out a way to put Alaric down?” suggested Stefan.</p><p>Klaus clapped his hands together. “Okay, how about Damon sneaks in and distracts Alaric, while Stefan grabs Elena and carries her to safety?”</p><p>Damon made a face. “Huh, that's a great idea. What's to stop me from getting killed instantly?”</p><p>“Nothing,” said Hilda. </p><p>“I have a better idea,” said Damon seriously. “What if Hilda goes in? After all, if she dies, she can have her Emilia and Iago moment, dying at the hands of someone she likes. No other vampires day, it’s a happy day.”</p><p>“I am not sending my sister in!” snarled Klaus. “You’re more disposable.”</p><p>Damon narrowed his eyes and faced her. “Caroline’s in there. Don’t you have a thing for her? Or did she just reject you too many times?”</p><p>Stefan sighed in exasperation. “This isn’t really helping too much.”</p><p>Hilda covered her face. “Well, I don’t think killing Alaric will be easy, possible, or desirable. There’s Sleeping Spells, Desiccation Spells—”</p><p>Bonnie Bennett chose that moment to walk up. “My mom used a desiccation spell on Mikael that immobilized him for over fifteen years. If I can get it, I might be able to use it on Alaric.”</p><p>“‘If’ and ‘might?’” scoffed Klaus. “Your words inspire <em>such</em> confidence.”</p><p>Bonnie rephrased. “I’ll get it. But even with the spell, we'll need a lot of vampire muscle to take him down. Including yours and your sister’s.”</p><p>Mulling it over, Klaus turned back and looked up at the sky. “Just so we’re clear, the sun sets in about eight hours. If we don't succeed before then, Elena will be dead, Hilda and I will be gone, and the rest of you will be left to fend for yourselves.”</p><p>“Perfect,” said Stefan. “You two are coming with me to the school while Damon and Bonnie wait for Abby.”</p><p>“Fine,” said Klaus. “But I’m driving, and you’re taking the back seat.”</p><p>The ride was quiet and incredibly awkward. Klaus did not speak. He did not turn the radio on. Hilda was too distracted to think of anything to say. Thus, Stefan was stuck in the backseat with nothing more than the sound of the engine running, and the breathing of his two companions.</p><p>They arrived at the school, and Klaus put the car in park, getting out and sitting on the hood. Hilda followed suit, and after a few seconds of deliberation, Stefan joined them, his phone chiming in that moment. “Abby just showed up.”</p><p>“Good,” said Hilda. “That was fast.”</p><p>“Perhaps this plan won’t be an epic failure after all,” Klaus muttered. “You know, if this does go off and we drop the history teacher in the Atlantic, I'm still leaving with Elena.”</p><p>Stefan looked at him. “I’ll go with you.”</p><p>Both Originals were surprised. They shared a look, and Klaus narrowed his eyes. “Really? What’s the catch?”</p><p>“No catch,” Stefan said honestly. “I'd turn my back on everything here to make sure Elena's safe.”</p><p>Hilda had to admit, that was very sweet of him.</p><p>“And that is what makes you her better option,” said Klaus after a moment’s pause. “It's a shame it's not easier for Elena to see that, I mean, personally, I think she's wasting her time with Damon.”</p><p>Stefan quirked an eyebrow. “You know, all this time and energy you've spent trying to get me and my brother to hate each other… It's actually had the opposite effect.”</p><p>Klaus started to laugh. “Has it? Has it really? Well then, perhaps I should let Elena decide which Salvatore joins us, being as you and Damon are so <em>close</em>.”</p><p>Stefan shrugged. He was completely unbothered. “Ah, go for it. Damon and I have been through a hell of a lot worse than you.”</p><p>He walked away, and Klaus and Hilda looked at each other again. “Now I see why Rebekah liked him,” said Hilda. “He has this mysterious, confident, and overall charming aura. And well, if he was a Ripper with no humanity in the twenties… I can imagine she was just completely head over heels.”</p><p>“You wouldn’t believe how right you are, sister,” said Klaus, still chuckling. His expression then became serious. “You really should leave. He will harm you. This version of Alaric will not remember that you two bonded, or whatever you bloody did together. He will feel no remorse. He’ll attack you.”</p><p>“I know that. I can’t just leave, though, Nik. This is our mother’s fault. We have to fix it, if it means saving our lives. There are innocent vampires that will die if one of our siblings dies. Not to mention we’d lose another member of our family. Some of our species are actually really kind. They don’t deserve this.”</p><p>Klaus thought it over. “I still dislike the idea of you prancing in and letting him have another go at you.”</p><p>“It won’t be bad. For Desiccation Spells, they need to stop a human heart, and we’d need to make contact with Alaric to induce it. With the three of us, and Damon, if he helps, we can manage it. It will be alright, brother. I won’t be killed. None of us will be.”</p><p>“Otherwise, Kol will murder me if I let you perish. Can’t have that, now, can we?”</p><p>“Of course not. You’re still pining for Caroline. You can’t die until you’ve managed to get her interest. You’d lose your bloody mind in the afterlife if you didn’t succeed in at least kissing her.”</p><p>He leaned further back onto the hood of the car. “How about this,” he said with a smile on his face, “I give you permission to attempt to kill me on the day she kisses me.”</p><p>“Ooh, I’m intrigued,” said Hilda, wiggling her eyebrows. “And I give you permission to do the same if I manage to get through to Alaric, eventually. If… we manage to find a way to get him back to normal. Which… I guess is highly unlikely so realistically we’re just never going to manage it. Whatever.”</p><p>“You lose hope so easily, sister. Have all these centuries worn you out so much?”</p><p>“I haven’t let myself be as scandalous as the rest of you. I dunno… nothing ever drew my attention so much. I liked the violence so I could forget any pain. I learned the magic to give myself purpose. I never left myself any time to have fun. And if I was having fun, I’d be accompanied by you, or Elijah, or Kol. And I felt like I had to sit back and make sure none of you did something idiotic. You chastised us so much for being reckless and causing a scene that would lead Mikael to us. I suppose I just thought to not anger you, to avoid being daggered. I kept Kol from acting out so he wouldn’t be daggered, either. We all know that if either of us is problematic, you dagger the other.”</p><p>Klaus was momentarily silent. “You needn’t feel as though you must protect or watch over the rest of us, Hilly,” he murmured. “Mikael may have molded you to be Freya’s replacement, but you’re not the oldest sister. You don’t have to be what Freya might’ve been, if she hadn’t died. You don’t have to take care of us.” He let out a sharp breath, and then walked over to Stefan, who was standing beside a nearby tree.</p><p>“Any word from the others?” asked Hilda when she caught up to the two of them.</p><p>“They’re nearly ready,” said Stefan, holding out his phone. “Kidding, they’re ready now.” He beckoned for them to follow him over to one of the outdoor benches. Jeremy Gilbert was sitting down, and Damon and Bonnie seemed to have just arrived beside him.</p><p>“Look at this,” said Klaus in amusement, looking over them. “One big, happy family.”</p><p>Bonnie ignored him and extracted a vial of blood. “Drink this. It's my blood. It bridges us all together so that when I stop Jeremy's heart, you'll have the power to stop Alaric's. You need to make a physical connection to his bloodstream; a vein, artery, something connected to his heart.”</p><p>“So thrusting our hand into his chest or biting him, or something,” mused Hilda. “Perfect.”</p><p>Bonnie noddead and passed the vial around. Damon drank a bit, then handed it to Stefan, who said, “If one of us gets a clean shot, take it, the other three: hold him down.” He took a swig before passing it to Klaus.</p><p>He paused, and handed the vial to Hilda first. She drank a bit, leaving the rest for her brother, who was being overly cautious, as usual. “Before we all walk through these doors, let's get on the same page, shall we? I was the one who created your vampire bloodline, therefore I am responsible for your lives and Tyler's life, Caroline's life, and of course, Abby's life, should anything go wrong.”</p><p>Damon didn’t seem to buy it. “Or you're just lying to save your ass.”</p><p>“I’m not lying,” said Klaus. “But go ahead, call my bluff, let the teacher kill me. You'll all be dead soon thereafter.” He drank the rest of the blood.</p><p>Hilda tapped her foot hard on the ground. “He’s not lying,” she reiterated. “Kol and I knew since we heard you questioning about who sired Rose. We knew it was Mary. We knew Klaus turned her. The things we said— meant to throw you off. So if Klaus dies, so do you.”</p><p>Stefan nodded in understanding. “Let's just get this over with, shall we?”</p><p>The four vampires walked toward the school, leaving Jeremy and Bonnie behind.</p><p>The two Salvatore brothers went off to one end, and the two Mikaelson siblings went to another. Klaus held a finger over his lips, and went into Hilda’s mind.</p><p>“Let the two others have their go first,” he told her. They were standing in a grassy field full of wildflowers. “We’re not taking the first shot. If we hear they’ve subdued him, we go to their aid. If not, we’re second to attack. Understood?”</p><p>She nodded. “Fine by me, Nik.”</p><p>He exited her mind, and they slipped into the school, walking carefully down one of the hallways.</p><p>Suddenly, a figure stumbled out from one of the side hallways. Caroline. Klaus caught her, covering her mouth to silence her, and whispering in her ear. “Shh… it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s me.” He took his hand off and continued to speak. “It's okay, you're safe. We'll save Elena. You go straight home. You stay inside, do you understand?” He turned her to face me. “Do you understand me?”</p><p>Caroline looked weak and exhausted as she nodded. There were red marks on her cheeks, as though she’d been gagged with something soaked in vervain. She took one look into Klaus’s eyes before he sped away, Hilda following to the next hallway, where they stopped, hearing the sound of a body colliding hard with a locker. They peeked around the corner and saw Alaric gripping Elena by her throat.</p><p>“I should kill you,” he snarled in her face. “I should gut you like Brian Walters, Bill Forbes, and all the other cowards I plan on ripping apart. You're the worst offender of them all, Elena. You don't deserve to live.”</p><p>“So then, why am I still alive?” she spat. “There's obviously no humanity left in you, so what's stopping you, Alaric? If you want me dead then kill me.”</p><p>He tensed, and Hilda could see from the side of his face that reddish black veins were rising in his cheeks.</p><p>“Do it!” Elena cried. “Kill me!”</p><p>But he didn’t. Instead, he released her. From the other end of the hallway, Damon and Stefan sped forward and yanked his arms behind his back. “Do it now!” Damon yelled.</p><p>Before Klaus and Hilda could think to rush forward, Alaric shoved them off, grabbing Stefan and breaking his back, tossing him carelessly on the floor before snapping Damon’s neck. The two Originals took their chance, and Hilda pulled Alaric’s arms back as Klaus put his hand on Alaric’s chest.</p><p>With unprecedented ease, he threw Hilda back into the lockers and kicked Klaus back. He was about to stake him with the White Oak when Hilda tackled him off of her brother. An elbow collided with her face, and Alaric nearly snapped her neck as well, but managed to get her off before pinning Klaus down again.</p><p>“STOP!”</p><p>The three vampires looked up as Elena held a knife to her throat. “Let them go, or I’ll kill myself.”</p><p>Well, that was certainly bold.</p><p>“Put it down, Elena,” said Alaric immediately.</p><p>“Why?” she challenged. “Because you still need me alive? There's a reason why Esther used me to make you, isn't there? She didn't want you to be immortal, so she tied your life to a human one. Mine. That way you have only one life span to kill all vampires and then you'll be gone. So, when I die, you die too. That's it, it has to be!”</p><p>Hilda was impressed with how the girl had put that together. It would make perfect sense. She thought she had had Elena there to provide the blood when Alaric transitioned, since no one had told her any of the details about what her mother had done.</p><p>“You’re wrong,” said Alaric. </p><p>“Am I?” Elena began to cut her throat, and the newly turned Original held his hands up. “Stop! STOP! STOP! STOP!”</p><p>Klaus seized his chance. He threw Alaric back, and rushed toward Elena, grabbing her and leaving at full speed, and expecting his sister to follow. Hilda made to join them, but suddenly, was yanked back and tackled to the ground, her arms caught behind her back and the White Oak stake mere inches from her heart.</p><p>“A-Alaric,” she gasped, staring up fearfully. “Please don’t— please don’t—”</p><p>“Not yet,” he growled. “After all, I need you as bait.”</p><p>He pulled her up roughly and sped her into a classroom, shoving her into a desk and holding the stake menacingly in front of her. She was trying so desperately to find a solution that wouldn’t harm him, that she lost a chance to escape. He grabbed her hands and put them on the desk, stabbing through the backs of them with three pencils each, making her let out a cry of pain. He picked up a beaker full of clear liquid and splashed it in her face, eliciting a high-pitched scream as she thrashed from the burning of the vervain. </p><p>“You’re just as sensitive to it as other normal vampires, aren’t you?” he said, pulling out more pencils and stabbing them into her arms, making her whimper and shake her head. “Maybe it’s because you’re too weak to turn others into vampires. You’ve held back and never developed any extra strength. It’s pathetic, really, even your mother sees that aside from being a heartless bitch, you’ve turned out to be the lamest Original in the bunch.”</p><p>Hilda started to sob, shaking her head desperately as he kept shoving more wooden pencils into her skin. It wasn’t enough to kill her even temporarily, but it hurt like hell. He picked up a piece of cloth and dipped it into another beaker of vervain before wrapping it into her mouth, gagging her. She let out a muffled yell as it burned into her cheeks. He was partially right— she was in fact more sensitive to the vervain. After so many years daggered, she hadn’t encountered it in so long, and her body couldn’t recover as quickly as it could before, when she was more accustomed to the pain and could look past it.</p><p>He then sped out into the hallway. Her ears were ringing and she could hear only pieces of a conversation with Damon and Stefan.</p><p>“...Klaus is gonna kill Elena…”</p><p>“...are you talking about?”</p><p>“...Elena’s blood to make hybrids… he’d kill… if she dies, I die… what you do best… saving Elena’s life…”</p><p>He appeared in front of her seconds later and she flinched. He gripped her throat and yanked her head up to look at him. “I have some business to attend to,” he said lowly. “You’re going to stay here like a good little hostage as a backup plan. If he harms Elena, I’ll kill you. And from what you’ve told me about your family… Kol, Elijah, and Rebekah will never leave him in peace if they find out he let you be the next Finn.”</p><p>He went to the flagpole and broke off the wooden pole, snapping it in half. He thrust one half into her chest, opposite her heart, making her scream into the gag, and lodged the second part into her stomach, before grabbing the rest of the vervain and pouring it over her head, causing her to thrash around and sob.</p><p>He knelt in front of her and cast her a wicked smirk. “Goodbye, Hilda.”</p><p>He sped away, leaving her alone, and in searing pain.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda awoke on the couch of the Gilbert residence.</strong>
</p><p>Holding her head, she groaned and sat up, seeing Elijah sitting in the chair beside her. “Sister, you’ve awakened,” he said. “How do you feel?”</p><p>Looking around, she saw Elena Gilbert, Matt Donovan, and Stefan Salvatore surrounding her. “I feel fine… but what happened?” she asked a bit groggily. “I was… was I dreaming? Alaric…”</p><p>“Held you hostage,” said Elijah. “Yes, we determined this after Niklaus was desiccated.”</p><p>Hilda flinched. “He was what?”</p><p>She jumped when she heard Damon’s voice from the phone laid out on the table. Apparently, they’d been on call with him. “He’s desiccated,” he said pleasantly. “And you got all kinky with your crush.”</p><p>“Damon,” said Stefan sternly. “That’s not funny.”</p><p>“It’s a little funny. I mean, she’s pining for the guy and he pulls out the ropes and vervain and the choking on the first date.”</p><p>Elena groaned loudly. “Damon, leave her alone.” She looked up at Hilda. “I am so sorry— I feel terrible. When we realized you weren’t accounted for… I’m sorry. Elijah found you.”</p><p>Elijah nodded. “Now, the matter at hand. My sister was held captive. We must deal with Alaric. Niklaus can remain desiccated— it won’t do him any harm.”</p><p>Stefan pursed his lips as Elijah offered Hilda a glass of blood to drink. “What do you propose?”</p><p>“All we need is to take that stake away from him,” said Elijah. “Once he's been disarmed, the weapon's in my possession, my family will scatter to the ends of the Earth and Alaric will follow us.”</p><p>“And you’ll just run?” asked Stefan.</p><p>Hilda gulped down the blood. “Wouldn’t be the first time. Klaus and Rebekah specifically have been running from my father for the better part of a thousand years.”</p><p>“It would ensure Elena is able to live out the rest of her natural life,” said Elijah. “My siblings and I will not come in contact with you again. The twins are quite good at moving about and hiding, with their witch connections. Rebekah and I are nearly as good at being discreet. All I would ask is to take Niklaus’s coffin with me.”</p><p>Elena blinked, as if she didn’t hear him right. “We've finally stopped him, Elijah. After everything that he's done to us, I can't just let you bring him back.”</p><p>Elijah leaned forward. “I give you my word, Elena. I will not revive Klaus within yours nor even within your children's lifetimes. Perhaps that will finally teach him some manners.”</p><p>“Why should she trust you?” asked Matt coldly. “All you've done is screw her over.”</p><p>Elijah pursed his lips. “And for that, I am deeply ashamed. But know this— she could have been dead the instant I walked through that door tonight, so Elena, I leave it to you to make the decision whether to trust me or not.”</p><p>“Not!” said Damon loudly through the phone. “Hello? Did that concussion give you brain damage?! His lunatic siblings will kill you the first chance they get!”</p><p>Hilda gritted her teeth. “I ended up getting tortured because I helped her. We honor our word, and I can keep Kol in control while Elijah does the same to Rebekah.”</p><p>Elijah nodded. “If you return Klaus' body to us, Elena will come to no harm.”</p><p>Elena looked at Stefan as Elijah inquired, “Do we have a deal?”</p><p>“No!” exclaimed Damon. “No, no, no, no! Did I mention <em>no</em>?” </p><p>Stefan sighed. “Elena, it’s up to you.”</p><p>“Oh, come on!” Damon cried.</p><p>Elena looked up at the two Originals. “Why do you want Klaus’s body?”</p><p>Hilda slumped back on the couch. “Well, he kept Kol and I daggered for centuries, I’d rather like to taunt him every chance I get. I can get any witch to help reinforce the spell as time passes, according to what Elijah said about leaving Elena and her children out of harm’s way.”</p><p>“He is our brother,” added Elijah. “We remain together.”</p><p>Elena looked around before sighing. “We have a deal.”</p><p>Matt nodded, and then looked down at his phone. “I’ll be back. Jeremy wants to see me.” He walked off and Elijah came to sit beside Hilda. “You’re certain you’re alright?”</p><p>She cast him a weak smile. “Still feel light headed but I’ll be okay. I really was more sensitive to the vervain than I expected.”</p><p>“On behalf of Alaric, I’m so sorry,” Elena reiterated, looking guilty. “I had no idea he’d try to hurt you like that.”</p><p>Hilda had to admire how caring the doppelganger could be. Very different from Katerina. Much more like Tatia. “You couldn’t have known. It’s not the real him, either way.”</p><p>Matt returned with Jeremy in tow. “Alaric wants me to help him retrieve Klaus’s body,” Jeremy announced. “Any brilliant ideas?”</p><p>Elijah and Hilda shared a look. “We could set a trap,” suggested the elder Original. “You, my sister, and Rebekah could retrieve Klaus’s body before Alaric can get to it. The rest of you can subdue him. Give us time to run, and we’ll lead him away from you.”</p><p>Elena nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. Damon— where are you?”</p><p>“Are we <em>really</em> going to just tell Ric’s crazy torturing alter-ego where to find me and where to find Klaus?”</p><p>Elena sighed. “I think we should. Elijah can wait for Rebekah and Hilda to get the body. They’ll leave, and he’ll follow them.”</p><p>Damon groaned. “Fine. Tell him I’m on my way to bury him in the woods off Route Twelve.”</p><p>Jeremy nodded and picked up his phone, dialing Alaric’s number.</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“I know where Klaus’s body is,” said Jeremy.</p><p>“Good. Tell me.”</p><p>“Damon’s on his way to bury him in the woods off Route Twelve. I'll text you with the specifics.”</p><p>“Thank you, Jeremy. You're doing the right thing for your sister.”</p><p>“I know.” He hung up, and nodded. “He bought it.”</p><p>“Let us not waste time,” said Elijah. “Hilda, you and I may switch duties if you do not feel ready to go retrieve the body.”</p><p>“I can do it,” said Hilda. “I’ll get Bex.”</p><p>“Come to a storage unit off Route Twelve,” said Damon. </p><p>Hilda sped off.</p><p>It hadn’t taken long for her to gather Rebekah and explained everything, brushing off her sister’s incessant questioning about the fact that she was tortured. </p><p>“Just keep quiet, Bex,” said Hilda impatiently as they rode the elevator to the storage unit. For some reason, Rebekah had Damon’s number, but it’d come on handy.</p><p>The elevator bell dinged, and both vampires came out of the elevator. It was completely silent, which struck them as odd.</p><p>“Damon!” said Rebekah loudly. “Damon, where are you?”</p><p>“Quiet,” Hilda prompted, beginning to walk through the aisle of containers. </p><p>Rebekah, of course, didn’t listen. “Damon, this isn’t funny.”</p><p>Hilda groaned and yanked her sister down to another line. So far, they were seeing nothing. On to the next row, and this time, some of the containers were open. </p><p>Suddenly, both were grabbed from behind, their mouths covered.</p><p>“Hilda, Rebekah,” whispered Damon. “Shh…” he grabbed their arms and sped them down to one of the further rows, to a container marked 1020, which was open. Inside was a coffin, and Rebekah and Hilda quickly undid the locks of the wheels before bringing it out of the container. Damon closed it as quietly as possible and urged them to follow him out the back entrance, where a car was waiting.</p><p>Suddenly, Hilda’s feet where knocked out from under her, and she watched Rebekah be slammed headfirst into the car. Damon lunged, but Alaric was too quick, and he tossed Rebekah and Damon onto Hilda. With incredible speed, he threw open the coffin lid and pulled out the White Oak stake.</p><p>“No!” cried Hilda as they tried to scramble to their feet.</p><p>Too late. Alaric stabbed the stake into Klaus’s heart, making both sisters scream out and begin to sob. They both got up, but Damon held them back as Klaus’s body burst into flames.</p><p>Alaric turned to face them. “Next, Hilda,” he said. “You’re supposed to be in my classroom, drowning in vervain.”</p><p>“Run,” Damon whispered, and both sisters did so immediately, speeding off side by side until they landed in the nearby woods.</p><p>Hilda was the first to collapse in shock. “He fucking killed Nik,” she croaked, holding her head in her hands. “He killed him..”</p><p>Rebekah pulled her in for a tight hug. Hilda had never felt her younger sister shake so much. She was trembling from head to toe, her body wracked with repeated sobs. Her hands clawed at her older sister’s back, looking for some comfort, some proper hold that could latch her to this world. But for Rebekah, there could be no world— not a happy one, at least— if Klaus wasn’t in it with her. Hilda felt more pained now than when Finn died, and that was considering Klaus hadn’t been the best brother ever.</p><p>She wasn’t sure how much time passed when they realized they absolutely had to get up. Wiping their eyes, they sped toward where Elijah was, looking grim. He knew.</p><p>“There was nothing we could to do stop it,” said Rebekah shakily as they walked over to him.</p><p>Elijah pulled her into a hug, and tugged Hilda into it. Though she was no longer crying, she looked crestfallen. </p><p>“Tyler Lockwood is dead,” said Elijah. “Yet somehow, the rest survived.”</p><p>“That’s impossible,” whispered Hilda. “Nik turned their bloodline.”</p><p>Elijah pulled away from his sisters and looked at them intently. “Then how are they still alive?”</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>Their question wasn’t answered until the next day. </p><p>Hilda and Rebekah gave themselves free reign to tear apart the house. They threw vases and smashed through windows. They could just compel servants to fix things. They fed and drank, thankfully without Elijah’s supervision. He had no intention to babysit his sisters. Instead, he let them grieve in the way he knew they would. Being impulsive.</p><p>But soon after, the door opened. Rebekah had gone to another room, and Hilda went to see who it was. “Damon,” she muttered. “Why are you here?”</p><p>“I wanted to give your sister a very important message. Or are you two not talking at the moment?”</p><p>Hilda made a face. “What are you talking about?”</p><p>He furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m sorry— what the hell happened after you two ran?”</p><p>“I came back. Drank. Rebekah and Elijah went off to do who knows what. Rebekah arrived later and we drank together. Started being destructive. Why?”</p><p>He had an almost pained look on his face. Rebekah chose that moment to come in. “Tragic about Elena,” she said loudly. “Not to make a grey cloud even greyer, but does Matt even have automobile insurance?”</p><p>Hilda slammed Rebekah into the wall before Damon could answer. “What did you do?” she sneered lowly. </p><p>Rebekah scoffed. “I got rid of Alaric. You should be thanking me. He tortured you.”</p><p>Hilda staggered back. “That wasn’t the real him, Rebekah,” she said, her voice cracking. For the first time in a century, her eyes welled up with tears. “How could you do that?”</p><p>“When have you ever been opposed to murdering the enemy? That doppelganger bitch had it coming and we’re safe! You can always find another man— he would have never treated you right, the way he was.”</p><p>Hilda’s hands shook, and Rebekah knew immediately she’d made a mistake. “Hilly,” she said, holding her hands up. “Listen, I was thinking about protecting the rest of us after Nik—“</p><p>The scream of rage that Hilda let out was so loud that the sound of glass shattering sounded around the house. Damon decided it was most definitely not the time to be inside the Mikaelson Mansion. Rebekah tried to run, but Hilda tackled her down, slamming her sister’s head into the tile.</p><p>“Hilda— Hilda stop it—!” screamed Rebekah, her eyes wide with fear. “Please—“</p><p>But once she unhinged, there was no listening to reason. She had no morals. She had no control. All she could hear was her own raging heartbeat in her ears. And all she could feel was murderous anger. It was times like these that the Original siblings made note that Hilda and Kol, when separated, were perhaps even more problematic than when together. They could keep each other from losing it, even thought it’d mean wreaking havoc as a unit. Still, it was preferable to have them causing mayhem together than watching them slip into their psychotic temper tantrums.</p><p>“I lose Finn,” Hilda snarled, hitting her sister anywhere her fists could land. It wouldn’t kill Rebekah, but it sure as hell would bring her pain, and Hilda wanted her to feel the same pain. “I lose Nik. Kol’s off in another state. Mother corrupts the first man I’m interested in after a thousand years, and you kill him! IT’S NOT BLOODY FAIR!”</p><p>“Hilda— I’m sorry!” screamed Rebekah, trying to throw her off. But when she flew off the handle, Rebekah proved to be no match for her strength. Not even Klaus would be able to handle her. Her episodes were terrible and though they didn’t happen often, they left lasting damages of animosity.</p><p>“YOU’RE NOT SORRY!” Hilda screeched, beating her fist right into the tile. “ALL OF YOU! YOU TREATED KOL AND I LIKE ALIENS! AS IF WE WEREN’T YOUR SIBLINGS! YOU HAVE NO RESPECT FOR WHAT WE DO OR WHAT WE’VE BEEN THROUGH! NO ONE GIVES A DAMN ABOUT WHETHER WE’RE SUFFERING! WE ALWAYS HAVE TO FEND FOR OURSELVES! YOU—“</p><p>But suddenly, she stopped. Rebekah had thought that perhaps Elijah had arrived. Instead, she looked up and saw three wooden stakes had been launched through the broken window behind them, and were lodged in Hilda’s chest. She began to desiccate, and before Rebekah could run, she met the same fate.</p><p>They awoke bloodied, dazed, and with vervain ropes on their wrists. They were sitting next to Caroline Forbes, in the back of a van.</p><p>“Vervain ropes,” murmured Caroline when Hilda opened her eyes and began to struggle. “Looks like Alaric outed us all to the Council.”</p><p>Rebekah opened her mouth to speak, but chose not to say anything. She’d narrowly escaped the worst of Hilda’s tantrum. “What do they think that can do with us?”</p><p>Caroline could not reply. The wheels of the van screeched and next thing, it flipped over, the three vampires being knocked about amidst glass and debris. The van landed on its side, and Hilda felt her head slam back painfully.</p><p>“What the hell happened?” groaned Rebekah, trying to sit up unsuccessfully.</p><p>The back door of the van was broken off, and none other than Tyler Lockwood showed his face.</p><p>“Tyler?” cried Caroline in shock.</p><p>He smirked. “I'm harder to kill than you think.”</p><p>Caroline began to cry as he tore off the vervain ropes from her arms. “You’re alive? How are you alive?”</p><p>“No time. Come on, we’ve got to go.”</p><p>“Wait, what about us?” demanded Rebekah as Tyler helped Caroline out. He looked down at her and Hilda and winked. “Keep them busy, little sisters.”</p><p>He sped off, and the sisters shared a look, but quickly looked away. Hilda was still pissed.</p><p>“At least we know how they didn’t die,” she muttered. “Klaus body jumped. That swine, keeping it a secret from us.”</p><p>They were taken to a ranch, once the men outside managed to pull the girls into the cop cars that were escorting the van to begin with. Shoved into neighboring cells, they looked across and saw that Stefan was trapped, along with an unconscious Elena.</p><p>It felt like hours before the doppelganger finally woke up. The three vampires were coughing instead of conversing, since vervain was being ventilated through into the cages they were being kept in. </p><p>“I thought I killed you,” said Rebekah.</p><p>“Where am I?” asked Elena groggily.</p><p>“They must have thought you were a vampire, so they stuck you in here with us,” muttered Hilda.</p><p>“Where’s Stefan?”</p><p>He patted the wall that separated them. “Elena, I’m right here. Are you okay?”</p><p>She whimpered and leaned onto the wall. “Stefan… I didn’t feed.”</p><p>Hilda immediately put the dots together. “You’re in transition,” she murmured. </p><p>“Locked in here without a drop of human blood in sight,” mused Rebekah. “That is a problem.”</p><p>“Ignore her,” Stefan said.</p><p>Rebekah continued, “Has anyone done the math or shall I? I'd say you've got less than three hours to feed before I get to watch you die all over again. My day just got a whole lot better.”</p><p>Hilda growled. “Shut up, Rebekah. It’s miserable enough hearing your voice.”</p><p>It was even worse to see Elena slowly dying. Hilda was too weak to attempt anything. She was drained from how much anger she’d let out. She felt empty. She wasn’t sure why Alaric’s death had hit her so hard. Maybe she was sick and tired of never getting anything good for herself. She had wanted to get to know him and would now never have that chance.</p><p>“Stefan,” Elena croaked after darkness had fallen.</p><p>“What happened?” He whispered.</p><p>“I’m out of time… I need blood. I’m dying.” She was breathing heavily, and she looked so pale.</p><p>“Hey!” Stefan yelled, forcing himself to his feet. “Anyone, hey!”</p><p>Rebekah groaned. “Will you shut up?”</p><p>“You think we’re afraid of you?” Stefan called out.</p><p>The barn door opened, admitting one of the officers that’d brought them in. “You want more vervain?” He snapped. “Keep it down.”</p><p>Stefan leaned onto the bars. “Listen to me. Elena's gonna die if you don't let her out of here.”</p><p>The officer glanced at her. “Sorry, not my problem.”</p><p>“She’s innocent. Let her out.”</p><p>The officer ignored him and began to walk away, so Stefan rushed to the other side of the cage. “LET HER OUT!”</p><p>The man whirled around, firing wooden bullets into Stefan’s stomach. Hilda winced as Elena cried out for the man to stop, but when Stefan persisted, he was shot again. The officer then walked out.</p><p>Stefan dragged himself to the wall that divided him and Elena, shakily pulling the bullets from his body. </p><p>Hilda couldn’t bear to pay attention to the exchange of words that ensued. It was so painfully obvious that they loved each other, but there were things in the way of a perfect romance. It made Hilda feel more isolated. Rejected. Repulsive. She didn’t think she’d ever fallen in love. Had she loved Tristan? She didn’t think so. She cared for him, but he had abandoned her rather than run with her. </p><p>She wanted what they had. Hell, she wouldn’t mind having two men fighting over her. She wanted to be loved. To be seen. Appreciated, despite her flaws. </p><p>It was later in the evening that the officer returned. </p><p>“Excuse me?” said Rebekah loudly. “Hello? Sir?” She coughed, and the officer came over.</p><p>“I thought I told you to shut up.”</p><p>“Here’s the thing,” she panted. “My family. We— we have money, castles, apartments, jewelry— just name your price and let my sister and I out.”</p><p>He leaned closer to the cage. “I’d much rather watch you die.”</p><p>Rebekah sped to the bars, slamming him forward and shoving him to where Hilda had been leaning over to see what was happening. She caught him and bashed his head against the bars of her cage a good three times, feeling that it at least let her anger out, before tossing the body right against Elena’s cage, the blood spilling where she could reach it. Somehow, Hilda had known that this was what her sister had intended. Rebekah was a sucker for love. After seeing Stefan and Elena being cute, she didn’t want her to die after all.</p><p>The instant she fed, they were basically free. The color flooded back into the girl’s face and she reached the keys, freeing herself before releasing Stefan, Rebekah, and Hilda. Rebekah sped off immediately, but Hilda stopped to bite into the officer’s neck as Elena sped out of the barn.</p><p>“I’m sorry about Alaric,” said Stefan quietly when she stood up. “I can tell it’s hitting you hard.”</p><p>She stared at him blankly, not in the mood to say thank you. “I’m sorry that my sister left Elena to become a vampire.”</p><p>When she returned home, she found Rebekah on the floor, with blood bags spilling onto the tile. Hilda didn’t bother to ask, especially not when she heard Klaus snarling about something upstairs.</p><p>Over the next few days, it became difficult for Hilda to want to stay in Mystic Falls. By the fourth day that she had questioned her purpose, she decided she no longer felt like staying. She hadn’t spoken a single word to each other. Either way, her sister wanted to be a high school student, which Hilda found boring. Additionally, Klaus could only think of his hybrids.</p><p>It was time for her to return to Kol’s side. Without leaving a note, Hilda packed the few possessions she wanted to take with her. As darkness rose that night, she made only one stop— the Mystic Falls Cemetery. </p><p>It was easy to find the headstone. In all capital letters, it read, ‘Alaric J. Saltzman. He was loved. February 4th, 1976 - 2010.’</p><p>“Alaric J. Saltzman,” muttered Hilda as she sat down on the ground. “Wonder what the J stands for. John. Jakob. Jonathan. <em>Jerome</em>.”</p><p>She cleared her throat. “I’m leaving,” she said quietly. “I’m going to join Kol again. There’s nothing for me here.”</p><p>There was a crunching of leaves. She turned back to see Damon, walking with a bottle of bourbon.</p><p>“You won’t believe what their little friend group is doing,” he muttered as he sat next to her. “They're floating lanterns in the sky, can you believe that? A Japanese lantern is the symbol of letting go of the past. Well, here's a news flash: we're not Japanese!”</p><p>Hilda snorted. Damon took a swig of bourbon before offering her a sip. She took it, and leaned back. “They’re like little kids.”</p><p>“Exactly,” Damon said, speaking to both her and Alaric, apparently, as if he could be listening to them. “Children. Like lighting a candle is going to make everything okay or even saying a prayer or pretending Elena is not going to end up just like the rest of us murderous vampires. Stupid, delusional, exasperating, little children. I know what you're going to say: ‘It makes them feel better, Damon.’ So what?”</p><p>He stood, speaking as if an audience was hearing him. Clearly, he’d needed to rant. “For how long? A minute, a day? What differences does it make? Because in the end, when you lose somebody; every candle, every prayer is not going to make up for the fact that the only thing that you have left is a hole in your life where that somebody that you cared about used to be.”</p><p>Hilda felt his words hitting home. Loss. She despised it. She watched as Damon came forward and looked over at the headstone. “And a rock with a birthday carved into it that I’m pretty sure is wrong,” he muttered, offering Hilda another swig. “So, thanks, friend. Thanks for leaving me here to babysit, because I should have been long gone by now. I didn't get the girl, remember? I'm just stuck here fighting with my brother and taking care of the kids. You owe me big.”</p><p>He sat back down beside her. “Alright. Your turn to rant, Hilly Billy.”</p><p>“Don’t call me that.”</p><p>“We had the same idea in mind for a comfort person. I’ll call you whatever I want.”</p><p>She tried to ignore him. “They say ‘Always and Forever’ and yet, Kol and I are always excluded. I hate the idea of friends. Of relationships. Of being vulnerable. Of losing people. Someone always stabs you in the back. I’m a terrible person. I’ve done terrible things. But when it wasn’t being used as a coping mechanism, it was for safety. I protected myself. If you push people away, they can’t hurt you.</p><p>“Rebekah likes to make fun of me. I literally haven’t gotten laid since the year 1002. But I just can’t fucking open up. With most people it takes so much effort. With Alaric… I just felt at ease. He knows history. He knows what kind of shit has gone on in the past. He knows loss. And… that fascinated me. That he could understand, if I gave him a chance. I guess I wanted a friend. But now he’s gone and we never got to be friends.</p><p>“I struggle to be vulnerable because I keep losing things. I lost the good relationship I had with my father because he didn’t respect magic. He’s dead now, and we’ll never get along, ever. I lost the older sister I wish I had for guidance. The baby brother who I loved so much. Normally, I hate kids. Fucking hate them. But Henrik was an angel. A blessing that I didn’t appreciate until it was gone. He was sweet and innocent. He was just starting to be interested in magic. Kol and I would have taught him. Then I lost my magic. My mother, who wanted to kill me. Finn. I was the only one who even bothered to try to be close to him. He made me laugh sometimes. He loved to criticize but besides Kol, he understood me most. And he was a good person to talk to. </p><p>“I want so much more out of life and I’ve let myself be stuck here. I can’t find a purpose here. So… I’m leaving. I have no reason to stay. I have no friends. I don’t even play well with others. I can’t even try to be civil more often because my default is to hurt others before they hurt me. If I’m feared instead of loved, I never have to worry about losing that love. I only have to be concerned with feeling better about myself. It makes me fucking lose my mind.”</p><p>She took the bourbon and downed the rest of it. “I honestly hate myself. I’ve wasted my life. Or parts of it have been taken from me. If it weren’t for Kol, I would have just lost it completely already. If I died, no one would suffer. No vampires would follow suit.” </p><p>She handed the empty bottle back to Damon and stood up. “If you tell anyone about that Hamlet-worthy monologue, I’ll kill you, and I mean it this time.”</p><p>Damon half-smiled, watching her leave. “Wouldn’t expect any less.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>January 26, 2011</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>Hilda had been having the time of her life.</strong>
</p><p>It was a wonderful thing to unleash. Now, reunited with her twin brother, she had a companion to be reckless with. He knew the instant she arrived that fateful day that she was hurting.</p><p>And so they’d been out for blood.</p><p>They attended parties to feed and drink. Sometimes, they killed someone. Most times, they only fed and erased. They’d go out into different towns and that was when they’d be brutal. Tearing into throats and feeding until they died in their arms. Sometimes, they’d continue drinking blood even after the person had died, just to see how much they could shrivel them up. Hilda didn't think about being judged or whether it was morally correct. She knew it wasn't and she relished in it. She was drawn to the idea of sinning in order to cope with the misfortune that was her life. She believed in nothing and worshipped nothing because she'd only disappoint them. Any superior deity would strike her down if she hypocritically spoke to them as though she didn't love to kill.</p><p>In the meantime, they were kept in the loop about what was happening in Mystic Falls. Klaus was more than happy to gossip and text them (properly) about them encountering one of the Hunters from the Brotherhood of The Five, and that Jeremy Gilbert was set to become the next Hunter in order to find the cure for immortality.</p><p>“Nik is ridiculous, in my opinion,” said Kol as he and Hilda finished leaving their latest victims in the dumpster. He took out some hand sanitizer from one of the purses on the ground and sniffed it before tossing it aside. “What does he even want with the cure?”</p><p>“Dunno. But clearly this is important for him. You know what I want to bet— it’s that doppelganger girl. She’s a vampire now. If he cures her, he can have his stupid hybrids again. And if one of the Salvatore brothers takes it, they’ll have their stupid happily ever after. Klaus was very kind to update us about the fact that tension is high within that trio.”</p><p>Kol looked at his phone. “What else was it that he said? Oh, yes— ‘Tyler Lockwood’s GORGEOUS werewolf friend is in town. The day has already gotten better.’ Then, not many days later, 'Finally kissed Caroline. Might not count, since I was in Tyler Lockwood's body, but she is an excellent kisser.'</p><p>“What’d he say the first girl's name was? Hayley, I think? Also, that means I can try to kill Nik now. Fun."</p><p>“Yes, that was it. I wonder if she’s really that pretty. Maybe we should go back. Nik has that Caroline girl, and he's left Hayley untouched, thus far. I might have a go at it. I want some fun. You're going to have your fun trying to murder our brother."</p><p>Hilda laughed. “You idiot, you sleep with people every other day while I go to drink. I’m not stupid, I know what you do when I’m not there. Do you not get tired?”</p><p>“Why would I? Blood and sex together is one of the best combinations. You just haven’t ever tried it and you don’t know how great it is. I normally wouldn’t encourage either of my sisters to go flaunt themselves around to get laid, but you’re pissy, Hilly. <em>Pissy Hilly</em>.”</p><p>She smacked him. “That Salvatore boy is better at nicknames than you. I don’t need sex to have a good time.”</p><p>“Are you still fantasizing about that teacher? You’re ridiculous. How good can a human be compared to a vampire? The wimp would last all of what, four seconds?”</p><p>“Judging by how often Rebekah pursues humans, they can’t be <em>that</em> bad.”</p><p>“Well, they’re fragile. I broke a girl’s pelvis, once. Not flexible enough for what I was trying to do, I’m afraid.”</p><p>“Ouch. Poor thing.”</p><p>“Nah, she didn’t even realize. I compelled her not to feel pain because I’d already bitten her a good few times and she kept whimpering. I didn’t want her to be completely quiet, either, so...”</p><p>“You and our brothers are terrible people. I pity any girl that sleeps with any of you. I should give them some money as a settlement. They deserve compensation after being with you bloody heathens. Most have ended up dead, though, so... that makes the lot of you worse."</p><p>Kol bowed, unfazed. “Thank you, Hilly, I appreciate that.”</p><p>Several weeks passed before Klaus decided to give a direct command. By then, the twins had been to every state except Louisiana, feeding and killing where they could. It was the best sort of therapy for Hilda. Violence was always the answer for her. It let her feel free while she was trapped in a continuous cycle of betrayal and pain.</p><p>“What, Nik?” said Hilda when she called them in the morning, as they were having breakfast in South Carolina. She and Kol had stacked their plates full of hotcakes and pork links, and each had a glass of blood on the side, mixed with orange juice (this was a new combination they were trying to pass the time— blending fruit with blood).  </p><p>“Your presence is required back here,” came Klaus’s voice. “Get back to Mystic Falls and wait for instructions from me or Rebekah. Understood?”</p><p>“Yes, brother, would you like us to bring you some candies?” said Kol playfully, munching on a sausage. "Perhaps some flowers?"</p><p>He hung up instead of answering, and Kol dramatically held his chest. “He ignored my bloody question!”</p><p>Hilda giggled. “Let’s just get the hell back there, then.” She checked for any texts, and pursed her lips. “Ooh. Klaus killed Tyler Lockwood’s mother. That’s not going to bode well. They're having a memorial."</p><p>“So... he kissed Caroline in Tyler Lockwood's body... who, of course, is one of his hybrids... then killed Tyler's mum? Fascinating. Our brother never fails to get creative. I highly doubt that Caroline will let him in her pants now."</p><p>They took their time getting back to Virginia. Hilda was not excited to see her sister again, but she would tolerate her, since this would likely be a quick trip. The twins wasted time feeding on flight attendants before boarding a plane, and once there, compelled the majority of those in first class to offer their wrists for some taste testing. </p><p>“That old chap in the suit was quite tasty,” mused Hilda, licking her lips as they got off. “Where shall we feed next? Taxi driver? Ooh, maybe—”</p><p>Her phone chimed. Rebekah. She looked down and made a face. “She wants us to go to Whitmore College to get a Professor Shane. Says he knows about the cure.”</p><p>“Perfect,” said Kol, cracking his knuckles. “But let’s take our time. It’s not like it’s urgent.”</p><p>And so they wasted time hailing a taxi instead of just using their vampiric speed to get to Whitmore. They compelled the driver to let Hilda sit in the front so she could feed off his wrist. They encountered a police officer along the way, and Hilda batted her eyelashes and compelled him to lean in so she and Kol could feed some more. Hilda took the officer’s hat and kept it on her head like it was a crown, but discarded it in a trash can once they got off the taxi, leaving the driver a generous tip. His blood had tasted exquisite. </p><p>They arrived at Whitmore and walked in alongside the other students. The campus was so unguarded that it was easy to get in anywhere. Everyone was more than happy to tell them where to find Professor Shane.</p><p>“Do we not look like serial killers?” mused Hilda as they walked into the Department of the Occult hallway. </p><p>Kol hummed. “I always thought we had that look about us.”</p><p>“Maybe the others didn’t notice.”</p><p>“Maybe they didn’t care.”</p><p>“Maybe they want to die.”</p><p>“Maybe we can make that happen.”</p><p>They raised their eyebrows at each other and smirked devilishly. Yep. Once they finished their work for Rebekah and Klaus, they'd go and kill more creatively without getting rid of the bodies, so they could actually be labeled as serial killers. They'd done it once before. </p><p>“Once we get the Professor to Rebekah, we can come back here,” suggested Kol. “Maybe you can take a momentary fancy to a frat boy, and we can make them evacuate the campus if we kill the ten dumbest students."</p><p>“Ew, I’ve heard enough about fraternities and they’re bloody disgusting. As for the ten dumbest... yes, perhaps we'd be doing them a favor. No more paying tuition. They're failing anyway. To balance it out and do something good, we can pay off the tuition of the ten smartest ones."</p><p>They shared another look, scrunched up their noses, and shook their heads. "No, nevermind," said Hilda. "That's too nice."</p><p>They turned down a corner and saw the familiar face of Bonnie Bennett walking down toward them. They nodded to her casually, and she didn’t recognize them until it was too late.</p><p>By the time she sprinted back into Shane’s office, the twins had taken him, and his desk was left broken in half.</p><p>“Where does she want us to meet her?” asked Kol as he dragged the unconscious Professor with them.</p><p>“Mystic Falls High School. Ugh, what’s with Bekah and the high school? I’d hate having to pretend to be a teenager. We look the age but being adults is so much more fun.”</p><p>“Right? Bex just wants to play house and be <em>normal</em>. Boring. I would never want to be human.”</p><p>Hilda agreed. “Same here. I would need to have a major drastic coming-of-age movie moment to even want to be mortal again. And I mean as in— Klaus kills all of you and I get my memories wiped and I become Elena Gilbert’s best friend sort of alternate reality.”</p><p>Kol snickered. “Ah, Hilly, you never cease to be funny. You, the second oldest vampire— since you turned right after Rebekah— being besties with one of the newest vampires."</p><p>They found Rebekah in the library of the high school, apparently holding Stefan Salvatore, Caroline Forbes, and Elena Gilbert hostage.</p><p>“Sister,” said Kol, the twins poking their heads through the door. </p><p>Hilda noticed the gathered group and wiggled her eyebrows malevolently. “Look at this!”</p><p>“You’re even worse than Klaus,” crooned Kol.</p><p>“Twin— finally,” scoffed Rebekah, walking over to them. “Did you bring what I asked for?”</p><p>In response, they shoved a now conscious Shane into the library. He still looked a bit dazed.</p><p>“You must be Shane,” said Rebekah as Hilda yanked him back. She and Kol led the way to a nearby custodial closet, and Rebekah followed behind, her heels clicking against the floor. Kol opened the door and Hilda shoved the man inside.</p><p>He looked at them in wonder, not fazed that they were most likely going to kill him. “Kol… Hilda… and Rebekah Mikaelson. Three members of the Original vampire family. This is such a trip...”</p><p>Rebekah grabbed him and tried to compel him. “Where’s the cure?” </p><p>The Professor looked overjoyed instead of afraid. “Compulsion won’t work. It’s a little trick I picked up in Tibet.”</p><p>“Ah, Tibet,” sighed Hilda. “We killed forty people there, didn’t we, Kol?”</p><p>“Forty three, sister. You forget the three little nuns I offed because they tried to throw holy water in my eyes.”</p><p>Rebekah patted twins’ shoulders. “Right. Do it the old fashioned way. Beat him until he tells you where to find it.”</p><p>She began to leave the room, but Hilda noticed the familiar White Oak stake in her sister’s back pocket. She snatched it up quickly, and Rebekah didn’t even notice. The door slammed shut behind her, and Hilda held up the stake, making both twins smirk in triumph. </p><p>“Marvelous, Hilda,” said Kol darkly, smirking as her wrapped his hand around Shane’s throat, his sister tucking the stake into his jacket, since it had pockets on the inside. “And now you are going to have a good time drowning.”</p><p>Already knowing what he was thinking, Hilda rolled up her sleeves and went to the nearby sink, filling it with water as Kol held the Professor by the scruff of his shirt.</p><p>“What do you think of him, Hilly?” asked Kol as the sink filled itself up. “Suit your tastes? Disheveled. Teaches young minds…”</p><p>She glanced back and scrunched up her nose. “He’s alright. If he survives this, maybe we’ll see how much he can say to peak my interest.”</p><p>“My sister likes the smart ones,” explained Kol with a wicked grin. “You’d better hope, for your sake, that you know enough to keep us satisfied.”</p><p>Hilda turned the water off just before it could overflow. Shane didn’t get a chance to say anything before Kol shoved him face first into the water.</p><p>He held him down for a few seconds as the man thrashed. He pulled him out long enough for the Professor to gasp for air, then shoved him back in. Hilda watched in amusement, leaning against a rack of supplies and listening to the change in Shane’s heartbeat. Fight or flight mode was activated. She already knew that his blood wouldn’t taste the same as it would have earlier— too many stress hormones and neurotransmitters would be in the bloodstream, and it’d give the blood a more bitter taste. </p><p>Kol repeated his actions at least five more times before finally beginning to interrogate. “Where’s the cure?” he sneered as Shane croaked and tried to breathe. Perhaps he intended to tell them, but couldn’t breathe. It struck the twins as though he was withholding information, and Kol shoved him back under the water.</p><p>“Aw, give me a turn,” said Hilda, fake-pouting. “Let’s let there be a bit of blood in there… I’ll break his nose and fingers.”</p><p>Kol pulled Shane back out, and Hilda grabbed his hands, lacing her fingers with his and bending them far enough back that they cracked loudly, making Shane let out a yell. She released his hands and punched him right in the nose, blood immediately pouring out and onto his face. She and her brother switched places, and Hilda shoved Shane back into the sink, the water now becoming murky red.</p><p>“Where’s the cure?” Hilda snapped as Shane tried to bring his hands up to wipe his nose. It simply caused him pain, and he groaned in discomfort. Casting Kol a look of distaste at the lack of answers the Professor was providing, she shoved him back in. “I thought he was an educator. He’s withholding information. They’re supposed to <em>want</em> to tell people things.”</p><p>“Maybe he’s one of those terrible ones that teach nothing,” said Kol as Hilda extracted Shane again. He coughed and gagged, and this time, Kol was the one that moved forward and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, yelling in his face, “WHERE IS THE CURE?!”</p><p>Shane didn’t respond, and together, the twins shoved him back into the sink as Rebekah returned to the room. They pulled him back out and released him. Shane leaned back weakly against the wall, struggling to breathe.</p><p>“You’re human,” Rebekah told him. “Why do you want it anyway?”</p><p>He coughed. “That’s… the beauty of this… you can have it… I just… want… Silas.”</p><p>Hilda and Kol immediately tensed, and the elder twin grabbed him by his shirt. “What did you say?” she sneered. </p><p>“What do you know about Silas?” demanded Kol.</p><p>“He’s… the world’s first immortal being,” said Shane, “who… just happens to be imprisoned… with the cure… and I want to free him.”</p><p>Kol snapped. “No!” He shoved him back under. “Stop!” cried Rebekah, and Kol pulled Shane out. “He’s of no use dead.”</p><p>“Did you not just hear what he said?” Hilda exclaimed. “Silas will kill us all, sister.”</p><p>Rebekah stared at the twins as if they were idiots. “Silas does not exist. He’s a-a fairytale made up to scare children into eating their vegetables.”</p><p>Shane panted, his hands shaking at his sides. “Silas is very real. I know where he’s buried… and soon… I will have the spell that wakes him.”</p><p>Hilda and Kol shared another look. “Wait a second,” said Kol. “You’re lying.”</p><p>“You can’t get to him,” HIlda chimed in.</p><p>“Without his tombstone?” asked Shane. “Dozens to die in a blood sacrifice? Believe me, I know. I’ve done it. Those massacres are a pain to engineer.”</p><p>Rebekah gasped. “You're the one who got the council blown up.” Hilda narrowed her eyes at this, and moved aside, picking up one of the metal pipes that lay in a crate behind her sister.</p><p>Shane nodded. “It was a noble sacrifice… and temporary, because once I raise Silas, Silas will raise the dead. He will bring back every last soul who died on his behalf.”</p><p>Before Rebekah could respond, Kol moved aside, knowing what his twin was planning, and Hilda drove the pipe through Shane’s stomach, and shoved him to the ground.</p><p>Rebekah stared at them in disbelief. “Are you bloody kidding me?” she snapped, the three listening as Shane’s heart ceased beating, his eyes still wide open.</p><p>“You should be thanking us,” said Kol pointedly.</p><p>“You just killed my only chance at finding the cure!” Rebekah snapped.</p><p>“Silas on the loose would be Hell on Earth,” said Hilda.</p><p>“Frankly, sister,” continued Kol, “I don’t think you could handle it.” He pulled out the White Oak stake that Hilda had put in his jacket pocket.</p><p>Rebekah’s eyes widened. “How did you get that?”</p><p>“Way too easily,” Hilda said, exiting the closet. Kol followed, then Rebekah. </p><p>Their sister was obviously not pleased with them, and she walked off in a different direction. The twins shared a look and rolled their eyes.</p><p>“I am really sick and tired of our siblings writing us off as paranoid liars,” Kol sneered.</p><p>“Tell me about it. We know more than all of them about magic and other immortal beings.”</p><p>“I can’t believe that this Professor knew about Silas and thought that raising him was a good idea. Stupid humans will believe anything they read, if it portrays someone powerful in a slightly positive light.”</p><p>Hilda snorted. “And to not want the cure? He really just wanted Silas? That man will go off of his own agenda if he gets out. The last thing he’ll think is ‘oh, yes, let me help this puny human who helped me wake up.’”</p><p>Kol snickered. “Precisely. He might have <em>thanked</em> him, at the very least, but he wouldn’t have done the Professor’s bidding.”</p><p>“He must have lost someone important. Or several someones. Why else would someone be so desperate? There are plenty of witch covens who still attempt necromancy…”</p><p>It was nearing evening when they got a text from Klaus.</p><p>“‘Will be killing and turning some new vampires. Care to join?’” Hilda scrunched her nose up. “What the—?” She texted back, ‘What for?’</p><p>Klaus responded immediately. “‘Helping Jeremy Gilbert complete his Hunter’s mark to find the cure,’” read Kol from her phone. Immediately, he and his sister frowned. </p><p>“They’re still trying to get the cure,” mumbled Hilda. “No. We can’t let them.”</p><p>They shared a look and nodded. “We’ll go kill those vampires,” said Hilda, speaking for the both of them. She texted Klaus, ‘Can’t go at the moment. Where will you be? Would like to be a witness and see if little Gilbert has the gall to kill some newly turned vampires.’</p><p>Klaus responded with ‘Zanadew Lounge. It’ll be fun. It’s a brilliant plan, if you ask me,’ and the twins made their way there, though they didn’t intend to go inside. They hid in the woods and observed from outside, watching as, half an hour later, Damon Salvatore went in with Jeremy Gilbert and Matt Donovan.</p><p>They could hear music playing inside. “I was beginning to worry you boys wouldn’t find the place,” came Klaus’s voice.</p><p>“What the hell—?” they heard Jeremy say. Hilda and Kol could see through the window that there were several dead bodies laying about. They’d wake soon, newly turned.</p><p>“Did you kill all these people?” said Matt in disbelief.</p><p>Klaus shrugged, from where he was at the bar. “Not exactly. They’re in transition. Killing them is your job.”</p><p>The two teenagers looked at Damon. “You said you were going to convince Klaus to do this another way!” said Jeremy sharply.</p><p>“Well,” replied Damon, “I thought about it, and then I realized his idea was better.”</p><p>Hilda huffed, and whispered to her twin, “Honestly, I’m not surprised that Jeremy doesn’t want to do it. Benefits us, though, that he’s not willing…”</p><p>“No way,” Jeremy said, supporting Hilda’s statement. “I’m not doing this.”</p><p>Klaus frowned. “What makes you think you have a choice?”</p><p>Damon looked at Jeremy. “You have to kill vampires to complete the Hunter's Mark. Mark equals cure. You're in a bar full of almost vampires, so get your hunt on.”</p><p>Jeremy shook his head. “Screw you. You said I wouldn't have to kill any innocent people.”</p><p>“Jeremy, they’re not people,” said Damon.</p><p>Klaus grew impatient. “Enough! Have at it, or else.”</p><p>“I don’t take orders from you, dick,” said Jeremy, making both Hilda and Kol snicker from behind the trees and bushes. “Hunters can’t be compelled.”</p><p>Klaus began to laugh. “You're right. I can't compel you. But if your conscience is getting in the way, then allow me to make this easy for you. Because, I <em>can</em> compel <em>them</em>.” The twins could see through that the new vampires were waking, and that compelled humans had stepped forward to let them feed. “I'm gonna give you a two-minute head start. Then I'm gonna send every vampire in here after you. You kill them, or they kill your friend… Matt.”</p><p>Matt flinced. “Wait a second—”</p><p>“No, no,” said Damon sharply. “No, no. You turn them, he kills them. That was the deal, Klaus.”</p><p>“I’m taking artistic license,” Klaus replied. </p><p>“You know he can't take them all on at the same time!”</p><p>“With you as his coach, he'll be fine. It's Matt I'm worried about…”</p><p>Damon sighed. “Ah… Jeremy, go get the weapons out of the car. I’ll be right behind you. Both of you.”</p><p>The twins watched the door open, and the two boys exited. </p><p>“If I hear an engine start,” Klaus called after them, “I’ll kill Matt myself!”</p><p>The boys didn’t start the car. They got the weapons and ran right into the forest, past where Kol and Hilda were. Klaus had obviously sensed this, and within the next three minutes, a horde of the newly turned vampires were running toward the boys. The twins followed at a distant, and managed to see that Jeremy and Matt had gone to what appeared to be the Gilbert Lake House, judging by the fact that Elena Gilbert had beckoned them in. </p><p>The new vampires had obviously been compelled to wait them out, but as the sun began to come up in the early hours of the morning, they returned to the bar. The twins hadn’t minded spending the night in the forest. Virtually no time passed for them, after thousands of years being alive, and they followed the vampires back, finding that Klaus and Damon were no longer in the bar.</p><p>“Excuse me,” said Kol loudly as they walked in behind them. The vampires immediately snarled, and he made a face. “Snappy. I’m Niklaus’s brother. Surely he told you.”</p><p>Hilda closed the door behind them. “Apologies, dears, but we’re here to kill you. Any volunteers? I finished reading <em>The Hunger Games</em> trilogy last month, and we can do a fun reenactment. You volunteer… you die…” she then smirked and looked at Kol with a sadistic smile. </p><p>“Or we compel them to kill each other,” said the twins in unison.</p><p>The vampires tried to run. They were no match for the combined strength, speed, stamina, and brutality of the Mikaelson twins. Necks were snapped easily, and soon, the twins had taken down the vampires without making much of a mess. They tore out the hearts of those nearest them, just for fun, and dragged those few bodies into the back storage room. The others, they yanked in. There were about ten of them. One by one, as they began to wake, the twins took turns compelling them, and within a minute, they’d gathered them all and left them staring at each other.</p><p>“Does everyone understand the rules?” said Hilda sweetly. “Good. Well, chop chop. Kill each other, and make it messy.”</p><p>Kol held out a bottle of bourbon for his sister, holding one for himself as they stood in the doorway, the plastic transparent strip curtains that replaced a door drape over their shoulders as they watched the vampires tear each other apart, leaving blood splattered all over the room.</p><p>By the time the sun was up, they were all dead, and the twins had finished their respective bottles.</p><p>“Very good idea, Hilly,” praised Kol. “We should have done that earlier. Compel several people to kill each other… brilliant.”</p><p>But Hilda didn’t answer. She heard movement outside, and beckoned for Kol to follow her behind the bar as the door opened and Damon Salvatore and Jeremy Gilbert entered. </p><p>“Something’s not right,” said Damon, clearly noticing the trail of blood on the floor. He and Jeremy followed, and walked toward the storage room, finding the giant pile of vampire corpses that had been arranged by the twins.</p><p>The twins crept behind them as Damon said, “Looks like we're gonna have to find some new vampires. What a waste.”</p><p>“What the hell happened?” Jeremy gasped.</p><p>The twins made their presence known. “I confess,” said Kol as Jeremy whirled around, holding up a crossbow. “Hilly and I did it.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>“Kol?” said Jeremy in disbelief. “Hilda?”</strong>
</p><p>She waved her fingers at him with a cheeky grin. “Good to see you, darling,” she said with a wink. “Sorry about the mess…”</p><p>“It was a little crowded when we arrived,” Kol said. “We prefer more intimate gatherings.”</p><p>“We four need to have a little chat,” added Hilda as Kol took a sip of the new bourbon bottle he’d gotten.</p><p>Kol held the bottle toward Jeremy. “Care for a drink?"</p><p>Damon stepped in front of him. “He’s underage, and I don’t like you, so let’s just cut to it.”</p><p>The twins shrugged. “Our brother bragged about his plan to complete Jeremy's Hunter's Mark.”</p><p>“It was easy to get them to kill each other,” Hilda chimed in. “Killing young vampires is simple…”</p><p>“...and so is killing old ones,” said Kol, glaring at Damon.</p><p>Damon scoffed. “Why? What's it to you either way?”</p><p>Kol’s jaw twitched. “Because, you fools, in your zeal to find the cure, you risk waking someone very dangerous.”</p><p>Damon seemed amused. “Oh...You must be talking about Silas.”</p><p>Hilda stepped forward. “What do you know of him?”</p><p>“Nothing,” said Damon. “Don't want to. Not our problem.”</p><p>“Isn’t it?” asked the twins in unison.</p><p>Damon shook his head, and Hilda crossed her arms. “A few hundred years back, Kol and I came across a group that worshipped Silas.”</p><p>“His followers told us that he would rise again,” said Kol, “and when he did, he would trigger the end of time.”</p><p>“As immortals, you can see why we’re opposed to time’s ending,” Hilda added.</p><p>“So we murdered the lot of them.”</p><p>“Tore out their intestines little by little.”</p><p>“One by one.”</p><p>“It was quite fun.”</p><p>“And now,” said Kol, “here you are, willing to risk raising him in your search for the cure. We can’t exactly sit back and let that happen, can we?”</p><p>Damon snorted. “We're not going to back off the cure 'cause you were told one too many scary bedtime stories, you idiot.”</p><p>Growling, Kol pushed Damon aside. “Jeremy, we were mates in Colorado. You're a smart lad. Why don't you call off this imbecilic treasure hunt?”</p><p>“I’m not calling anything off, mate,” said Jeremy coldly, pointing the bow at Hilda.</p><p>She took a step back, and Kol followed suit. “We could kill you,” she suggested. “But then… whichever one of us does it will have to deal with the Hunter’s Curse while the other one suffers as a bystander. And neither of us particularly feel like being haunted for the next century.”</p><p>“Better idea,” proposed Kol. “We’ll rip your arms off.”</p><p>The twins moved forward, but Damon shoved Kol back, causing Hilda to crash to the floor. “Jeremy, run!”</p><p>The twins could have easily pursued him, but they risked being incapacitated and accidentally killing him, therefore they let him go, and instead, focused on subduing Damon, which was quite simple.</p><p>They put him into a headlock, and Hilda ripped a strip of wood from one of the empty beer kegs and shoved it into Damon’s side, making him yell out. Kol released him from his hold and Hilda held Damon’s arms behind his back as her twin punched the younger vampire in the face a good three times.</p><p>“Fuck you,” panted Damon, slumping his head back against Hilda as Kol went around looking for lethal objects to torture Damon with. “Thought… you were better…”</p><p>“Oh, darling, you thought because I spilled my guts to you, that I’m a good person?” she cooed in his ear. “A mistake, if you ask me. I can be nicer, sure… but deep down, I’ll always be a psychopath. I’ll always love violence. And when it comes to my family, I will protect them no matter how much they hurt me. Silas’s rising would put them and especially Kol and I in danger. Can’t have that happening. We’re doing you a favor.”</p><p>Kol returned with two knives. “Couldn’t pick which one was better.” He tossed one up in the air and caught it smoothly by the handle before stabbing both under where the piece of wood was lodged into Damon. He yelled as blood poured out of him, and Hilda patted his head as if to soothe him, when really, she was just annoying him. They hit and stabbed until the floor beneath him was soaked in blood, and he was left greatly dazed. </p><p>“Have to make sure we can compel you,” she said, handing him back to her brother and going to pull the beer keg over. They sat Damon down on it, and removed the knives, letting the blood drain out. Hilda stood in front of him, tilting his head up to look at her as he continued to bleed. Damon let out a dry chuckle. </p><p>“Let me guess,” he said weakly. “You would have been a total dominatrix in the bedroom. Knives and handcuffs and all that…”</p><p>“I wouldn’t know,” she said with a shrug. “Haven’t engaged in those modern things. Doesn’t sound that appealing, though. Considering how brutal Kol and I are, we tend to leave violence out of pleasure, unless we’re feeding and purposely killing.” She looked into Damon’s eyes. “Push the wood further into yourself.”</p><p>Damon grunted and tried to resist, but he had lost too much blood. He must have not taken vervain this morning, as the twins had heard he usually did, to build up immunity. He pushed the wood in, and grunted. “Alright, stop,” said Hilda, smirking in triumph. “I think, maybe, after tomorrow, I’ll start drinking vervain the way you do. I’m still a bit too sensitive to it.”</p><p>Kol’s phone began to ring, and Hilda stopped as he answered. “Nik,” he said.</p><p>“Twins,” said Klaus, already knowing Hilda would be listening. “Just two days home, and I'm told you've already gone and made a mess.”</p><p>“Come on, Nik,” said Kol. “We were only having some fun.”</p><p>“Those vampires were for my Hunter.”</p><p>“So?” said Hilda. “Kol can make some more. There’s no shortage of people and he’s never minded turning others.”</p><p>Klaus chuckled on the other line, but quickly became serious. “Where is Damon Salvatore?”</p><p>The twins smirked at each other. “We gave him a good and proper beating,” said Kol.</p><p>“Just for old time’s sake,” said Hilda.</p><p>“Yes, well, you've had your fun. Now let him go and come home. Avoid any more trouble, or you'll find yourself back in a box.”</p><p>Kol frowned. “Hey. No need to be nasty about it.”</p><p>“On the contrary, I find nastiness to be essential whenever my siblings try to sabotage me. Listen closely, Hilda and Kol… Stay away from the Gilbert boy. You understand?”</p><p>“Fine by us,” said Hilda. </p><p>“We won’t touch him,” said Kol.</p><p>“You have our word,” they chorused in their best imitations of Elijah.</p><p>Kol hung up, and looked at Damon, who was still groaning and holding onto the wood. He walked over to compel him. “Very good, darling. Now, stab yourself a little bit further.”</p><p>Damon had to reluctantly ovey. “If you’re gonna kill me… do it like a man.”</p><p>The twins snickered. “We don’t want to kill you.”</p><p>“I’m gonna rip out both your spleens,” Damon growled. “Then feed them to the other twin.”</p><p>“Ooh, that’s disgusting,” said Hilda, though she was smiling. “We’ll do that to you and Stefan first, to see how it goes.”</p><p>“And you, Miss Psycho Bitch— I’ll make sure you have to watch me shove the White Oak stake into your brother.”</p><p>She pouted. “Aw. We have the stake, idiot. No one is subduing us with it. Sucks to be you.”</p><p>“You ought to be thanking us,” Kol said. “I mean, you don’t <em>really</em> want the cure found. You fancy Elena. I mean, even more now that she's a vampire. Admit it. The last vestige of her humanity is her annoying little brother Jeremy, and deep, deep down, I bet you want him dead, don't you?”</p><p>Damon shook his head. “Nope.”</p><p>Kol laughed. “You’re  lying. I bet you'd love to rip his head right off… And I'm gonna give you your wish.” He crouched down in front of Damon. “You’re not going to remember what I say, but you're going to find Jeremy Gilbert, and when you do, you're going to kill him.”</p><p>“Let me add in,” said Hilda as Kol moved aside. She held Damon’s chin. “All you’ll remember is that we beat you up, then let you go. You won’t be able to hold back from wanting to kill Jeremy. And when you catch him, you will make his death as brutal as possible.”</p><p>Kol liked this. “Good idea, sister.” He yanked the wood out of Damon. “Off you pop.”</p><p>Damon forced himself to his feet, already having forgotten what they told him, though the command was still embedded in his mind. He limped off, and the twins gave each other a high five.</p><p>They spent the rest of the day partying. They celebrated that Damon would do their job for them. Kol joked that they’d tear him and Elena apart, as they’d learned yesterday from Rebekah that Elena had slept with Damon (who she was sired to, and who she loved), meaning she and Stefan had officially broken up. That just stirred the pot. Kol predicted that Damon and Elena would break up. Stefan would not care, and he’d go find comfort in Rebekah.</p><p>“And then,” said Kol once they arrived back to the Mansion, “I’ll make a move on Elena. She’s bloody gorgeous. She and that Bennett girl. One of those two will end up reciprocating. I’m absolutely dashing. They won’t be able to resist— especially not Elena. She loved the bad boys.”</p><p>Hilda laughed, and rolled her eyes. “You are so ridiculous.”</p><p>They entered the lower study and Rebekah came to stop them. “Going somewhere?” she asked. “I would if I were you. If Damon kills the Hunter, Nik will not be pleased.”</p><p>The twins smirked. “We told Nik we wouldn’t touch the kid. We didn’t.”</p><p>“Oh,” said Rebekah sarcastically. “Well, that was clever. I'm sure he'll really appreciate it.”</p><p>The twins brushed past her, their backs turned to her. She chose that moment to aim the White Oak ash daggers at their backs, and the twins stopped, feeling the familiar tip of the blade.</p><p>“You’d really dagger us?” said Hilda quietly.</p><p>“If I do,” said Rebekah, “Damon’s  compulsion ends and this is all over. I don’t know which one of you did it. Maybe it was both.”</p><p>“Then you’re no better than Niklaus,” said Kol venomously. “Daggering siblings when you disagree with them— Look at what this family has become.”</p><p>“Elijah won’t even show his face becayse he’s so disgusted by our bickering,” Hilda noted. “This cure has ruined us, and it hasn't even been found yet. Just imagine what would happen if it is.”</p><p>Rebekah frowned. “The family was ruined long before we knew about the cure.”</p><p>The twins made their move. Hilda whirled around and caught the daggers in her palms as Kol extracted the White Oak stake from his inner jacket pocket and pointed it right at Rebekah’s heart.</p><p>“Kol!” she gasped in fear. Just like the day she’d ignited Hilda’s fit of rage, she looked terrified.</p><p>“We won’t let you raise Silas,” growled Kol. </p><p>Just then, Klaus sped into the room, coming between them. “Enough of this foolishness. Put it down, Kol.”</p><p>The twins chose to leave the house instead.</p><p>_</p><p>The next morning, they had other plans for mischief.</p><p>It hadn’t been difficult to determine that there was to be a dance at Mystic Falls High that day. If they had to rely on Damon to kill Jeremy, they might as well get on with the others. </p><p>They walked into the hallway, trying to see who they could find from the usual friend group that helped Elena. Anyone would be a suitable kill.</p><p>“No! Dad, it’s mine and I’ve been doing fine without you getting involved!” they heard the familiar voice of Bonnie Bennett saying, her phone to her ear.</p><p>“You’ve been doing fine?” the man on the other line answered. “Would you like me to read you all the names of the people who have gone missing or died in tragic accidents, in your senior year alone? Head straight home please, we're having a family meeting.”</p><p>Right as the twins heard the call end, they sped forward, pinning Bonnie to the lockers behind her.</p><p>“No one can find the cure if you’re too dead to find it,” sneered Kol as Hilda made to bite into Bonnie’s throat.</p><p>They were suddenly thrown back, and they let out cries of absolute pain. The bones in their body began to break, and their heads burned with high-pitched ringing and nauseating pounding as their blood roared into their brains, swelling it up. Balloons in the hallway began to pop loudly around them as they screamed, and the lockers began to explode open, one by one, papers spilling out onto the ground.</p><p>And then, it suddenly stopped, and the twins crumpled down, seeing Bonnie was gone.</p><p>“What the hell?” groaned Hilda as she sat up. </p><p>“Expression,” grunted Kol. “Who the hell taught her that?”</p><p>“Klaus did say he heard she was spending time with Professor Shane. She had lost her ability to do magic.”</p><p>“Ugh— I hate those Expression witches,” snapped Kol. “They can never bloody control themselves!”</p><p>The twins staggered to their feet, gripping the open locker doors for support. They were both still in pain. It was too late to get Bonnie. She would be gone by now, and they didn’t want to waste their energy catching her if she had new powers to be concerned about.</p><p>They had put a hold on their plan. After all, with the headache Bonnie had given them, the motivation to attack a member of that group had dropped. The twins compensated with a good feed, and discussed smaller ideas for murder, but decided they would wait until the next day to do anything else.</p><p>They’d been walking down the street listening to music on Kol’s phone when it rang. The twins shared a skeptical look as they saw the name, ‘Jeremy Gilbert’ appear on the screen.</p><p>“Jeremy Gilbert,” answered Kol. “Nice to see I’m still on your speed dial, mate. Hey, you want to meet up at the batting cages in Denver?”</p><p>Hilda smirked at this. “Actually, it’s Elena Gilbert,” replied the voice of Jeremy’s sister.</p><p>“Ooh, what a treat,” Hilda said. “Kol and I were just thinking of all the clever ways we could have your brother killed.”</p><p>“But we’d settle for ripping off his illustrated arm instead,” Kol chimed in.</p><p>There was a sigh. “I need to talk to both of you. In person. I want to call a truce, in the name of Silas.”</p><p>The twins went rigid, and came to a stop on the sidewalk. “You want to talk about Silas?” asked Kol.</p><p>“I’ll meet you wherever you want,” said Elena. “I’ll come to you.”</p><p>The twins shared a look. “I’ll tell you what,” said Kol. “How about we come to you?”</p><p>They were close enough to the Gilbert Lake House to speed there, and rang the doorbell before Elena could answer. They heard the sound of weapons being cocked, and they could sense there were three people inside of the house.</p><p>“If you want a truce,” said Hilda, tapping her toe on the door, “open up and invite us in.”</p><p>There was no answer. They could hear three hearts beating rapidly— they were nervous. They could hear Jeremy’s heart. And Matt’s. The last one, more vampiric in nature, would be Elena’s.</p><p>“We’re waiting,” said Kol in a mocking sing-song voice. “Let us in and let’s talk truce.”</p><p>But she didn’t answer, and Hilda rang the doorbell again. “Hello?” she said. “We’re not bloody deaf. We can hear the three of you in there.”</p><p>“Then, wouldn’t I be kind of stupid to invite you in?” asked Elena, her voice a bit shaky.</p><p>“On the contrary,” said Kol, “we can’t kill your brother with our own two hands, or we’ll suffer the Hunter’s Curse and spend the next twenty years trying to off ourselves in gruesome ways.”</p><p>There was a shuffling sound inside, and the back door opened. It sounded like Matt had left. The twins shared a look, having heard this, but they didn’t care. After all, Matt wasn’t their target. He was the most fragile, and they didn’t mind letting him go. </p><p>“Also, we’ve heard the vervain is back in town,” continued Kol, “so we can’t compel you to kill him either. I think it’s fair to say you’re semi-safe, for now.”</p><p>Another shuffling sound, and they heard Jeremy whisper, “I’m the only one that can invite them inside.”</p><p>“He’s right,” Hilda said, kicking the door lightly. “Obviously. Hurry up. We grow impatient.”</p><p>Footsteps, and Elena finally opened the door for them. The twins’ expressions were emotionless. “You’d think being alive for over a thousand years would teach us some manners,” said Hilda. “But we couldn’t resist stopping by.”</p><p>“If I let you in,” said Elena, “my brother goes. You’re not getting near him.”</p><p>“Fair enough,” the twins replied.</p><p>Elena looked back at Jeremy, who nodded. “You can come in, both of you.” He then quickly left out the back door.</p><p>“No gold medals for bravery, I see,” said Kol with a smirk, coiling up the earbuds he and Hilda had been using to listen to music. “You know, the thing that my sister and I have grown to love about the modern age is music… anytime you like.” He opened his jacket to tuck the phone inside.</p><p>Hilda and Kol stepped inside, and Elena took a step away from them. “So,” said Hilda, looking around at the front entryway of the house. “This is the part where you offer us a drink so we can have a proper chat.”</p><p>Elena gulped and closed the door behind them. “Sure. You can make yourselves um… comfortable in the living room. Let me go find something.”</p><p>“Careful, darling,” called Hilda as Elena walked away. “We can hear your every move. If we hear you calling someone for backup…”</p><p>“I’m just going down to the cellar to get the drinks,” she said calmly. </p><p>The twins rolled their eyes and went to the living room. The television was on— Matt and Jeremy must have been playing a video game. Kol picked up one of the controllers. “Come, Hilly, you should learn to play.”</p><p>He started up the game and handed his sister the other controller. “Shoot with this, move with this, and just don’t get killed.”</p><p>The game began, and the sound of gunfire and crashing noises bombarded their ears. Being more sensitive to noise as a vampire, it sounded as though there was a war raging outside. By now, however, Hilda had learned to tune it out, and tried to imitate what Kol was doing, though he already had experience and she was still trying to learn.</p><p>They heard Elena coming back up. “Sorry,” she said. “I had to dig up the old people alcohol.”</p><p>Kol paused the game, and the twins set the controllers down before following her to the kitchen. “Yeah, that’s the problem with people today,” he said. “No drinking imagination.”</p><p>“Turn-of-the-century New Orleans, though,” said Hilda with a sigh. “Now, they knew how to make a drink.”</p><p>Elena furrowed her brows. “You lived in New Orleans?”</p><p>“We all did,” said Kol, “till Niklaus shoved a dagger in our hearts.”</p><p>“Why?” asked Elena. “What did you do?”</p><p>The twins glared at her. “What makes you think we did anything?”</p><p>“We only wanted to be free,” said Hilda. “It wouldn’t have killed him to just let us.”</p><p>“Idiot Bex had to rat us out when we were just trying to protect ourselves,” said Kol nastily. “Has your alliance with our brother really softened you to his horrors, or something?” </p><p>Elena shook her head, bringing out glasses and a mixer. “I don't have an alliance with Klaus. We had a mutual interest in finding the cure— that's all.”</p><p>“Had?” asked Hilda.</p><p>“Yes,” said Elena. “And I’m willing to give up looking for it if you promise to leave my brother alone.” She held the mixer up to Kol. “Now, can you teach me how to make this?”</p><p>Kol took the mixer and shrugged. “I’ll get some ice,” said Elena, going to the refrigerator. Hilda opened one of the bottles and began to pour it in. She glanced back and saw Elena had lingered for a bit too long near the fridge. Hilda crept forward, and right as she closed the door, the Original cast her a wicked grin. “Keeping busy, are we?”</p><p>Elena acted as though nothing was wrong, and handed her a bowl of ice. “Here you go.”</p><p>Hilda cast her a suspicious look before returning to her brother’s side. He was mixing, alright, but his hands were doing all the work from muscle memory. She saw his eyes were fixated on Elena, and he was looking her up and down. “Would you like one?” he asked her.</p><p>She hesitated, but then sighed. “Sure, why not?” She came a bit closer, and Kol no longer had an opening to stare at her ass, so he turned his attention back to the mixer. “You’re really good at that game,” Elena told him. “Definitely considering you've been locked up in a coffin for a hundred years.”</p><p>Hilda watched her twin smirked. Kol always relished in praise, especially from pretty girls. “I’m a quick learner,” he responded. “Speedy reflexes.It's not much like the real thing, though, is it?” Elena looked up in surprise, and he continued, “You've killed, haven't you? Or are you one of those Mary Sue vampires?”</p><p>She looked uncomfortable with the question, but answered. “I've killed. Once. I'm guessing your number's a lot higher than mine.”</p><p>The twins shrugged. “We’ve lost track over the years,” said Hilda. “So, are we going to talk about Silas or just jibber-jabber?”</p><p>Elena gestured toward the living room, and Kol finished making the drinks before pouring them in the glass. Hilda took hers, and Kol his. Her brother gestured for her to hand the last one to Elena, but Hilda cast him a sly look and didn’t take the glass. Kol glared at her, but took the glass himself and gave it to Elena, sitting across from her once she took it.</p><p>“Nobody else seems to think Silas exists,” said the doppelganger. “So why do you?”</p><p>“Because our siblings are colossal morons,” Hilda snorted.</p><p>“Hilly and I used to run with some witches,” said Kol. “Africa in the fourteenth century, Haiti in the seventeenth century, New Orleans in the nineteen hundreds. They all knew about Silas; that he needed to stay buried. We actually hold witches in high esteem.”</p><p>“Yeah, but why Silas? Why are you so afraid of him?”</p><p>Hilda took a sip from her glass. “They said if Silas rises, he'll unleash hell on Earth. We happen to like Earth just the way it is.”</p><p>Elena made a face. “That’s pretty biblical.”</p><p>“Well, that’s the other problem with people today,” said Kol. “They’ve lost faith. And in that loss, they no longer know who they should fear.” He downed the rest of his drink and went to walk around.</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Elena left to get some more alcohol, and the twins stopped to chat. </strong>
</p><p>“Suspicious, isn’t it?” Hilda said lowly. </p><p>“Tell me about it. Maybe some pillowtalk will be in order,” said Kol, wiggling his eyebrows. </p><p>Hilda smirked. “If that’s what you’re suggesting, then you’re doing a terrible job of putting her in the mood. She’s scared. She’s communicating with someone. I think she’s worried we’re going to kill her.”</p><p>“Then let’s ease up on the tension, Hilly. How about you casually do something else while I talk to her. I’ll flirt with her, or something. Might be a reach either way, given that we’re trying to kill her brother.”</p><p>“She slept with Damon, and he killed many people she knew. I highly doubt she’ll hold out for that. Jeremy isn’t actually dead.”</p><p>“Alright,” said Kol, whispering very quietly now, “what if I pretend you fancy Jeremy?”</p><p>“Are you <em>mental?</em> I’m not letting you say that. If you can’t entice her without lying, then you’re an idiot. Just be calmer. Make her feel comfortable.”</p><p>Kol leaned back against a shelf, and peered down at a photograph of Elena and Jeremy. At that moment, the young vampire came back, and Hilda pretended to go to the kitchen as Elena walked up to Kol.</p><p>This was common. Hilda would casually slip away and give her brother a chance to flirt with any girl he found attractive. In some cases, she’d put in a good word. Most times, it worked. </p><p>“So, we’re out of gin, but I think this is a good year,” said Elena, holding up a bottle of wine.</p><p>Kol faced her. “What if I said that we don’t believe you?”</p><p>She shrugged. “Okay, you caught me. I don't know anything about wine.”</p><p>Kol seemed to not yet want to put on his flirty front. He was thinking more about what Hidla mentioned regarding Elena communicating with someone. “It just seems odd that you'd be so willing to give up something you want so much.”</p><p>Elena became serious, and let out a soft breath. “I would do anything for my brother. And if what you're saying about Silas is true, what does it matter what I want if it puts everyone else in danger?”</p><p>Kol looked at her, and Hilda pretended to be very occupied examining the sink. Through her peripheral vision, she saw his hand moved, almost like he was going to try and touch Elena’s face, but he decided against it. “Well, this has been enlightening,” said Kol, looking at his sister and casting her a wordless message that this was a no-go. “Thanks for the drinks. We’ll take your request for a truce under advisement.”</p><p>The twins began to walk out, and they heard Elena’s heart skip a beat. “Is there any chance that you could be wrong about Silas?”</p><p>Hilda and Kol turned back. “Trust me, Elena,” said Kol, taking one step toward the girl. “Some things are better left buried.”</p><p>Elena gulped, looking up at him. She then looked away, and Hilda rolled her eyes, stepping out. Kol followed.</p><p>“I’m really shocked you didn’t try to sex her up,” said Hilda. “You can quite literally never keep it in your pants. What changed?”</p><p>“Her heartbeat,” he said lowly. “You said she was communicating with someone. I noticed her heart skipped a beat when I put my phone away. I know she saw the White Oak stake. It skipped again right now, when we were leaving. As for Jeremy leaving so quickly… they were planning something.”</p><p>Hilda growled. “Let’s stay out here.”</p><p>They went into the forest and hid behind some trees. “I think I have an idea what they are planning,” said Hilda darkly. “We killed the vampires that would have revealed Jeremy’s Hunter’s Mark. They can’t kill me, because that’ll only grant them one kill, but you— they could kill you and thousands of vampires would die. The Mark would be completed within hours.”</p><p>Kol gritted his teeth. “That stupid little wench. No wonder Rebekah wanted to kill her so badly.”</p><p>Not long after, Jeremy returned, and entered the house. Inside, they heard Elena say, “I’m sorry. They left. I mean, I-I tried to stall as long as I could.”</p><p>Instantly, the twins sped to the door and rang the doorbell.</p><p>“That’s Bonnie,” said Jeremy confidently. “She was right behind me.”</p><p>Elena opened the door to see Kol and Hilda’s matching sadistic smiles.</p><p>“We’ve considered your request for a truce,” said Hilda sweetly.</p><p>“Request denied,” said Kol. Elena immediately slammed the door in their faces, and the twins began to laugh.</p><p>“I’m sorry!” shouted Kol. “We’ve already been invited in!”</p><p>He kicked the door open, and the twins stepped in, seeing Elena and Jeremy were gone.</p><p>“Hide and seek?” said Hilda, motioning for Kol to go one way while she went the other. “Fine by us. We grew up with five siblings. We played hide and seek in the woods, and we were damn good at it.”</p><p>They began to walk around, kicking through closet doors and tearing into cabinets. They could perfectly well hear the heartbeats upstairs, but it was quite entertaining to destroy the downstairs first and build up the tension. </p><p>Hilda pulled out her phone when she and Kol reunited in the kitchen. </p><p>Klaus answered quickly, “Well, if it isn’t Happy Homicidal Maniac Number One.”</p><p>“Did you know that your darling former blood bag and her brother are trying to kill Kol?” Hilda said venomously into the other line.</p><p>“What?” said Klaus sharply.</p><p>“Don’t pretend like you’re not in on it, Nik,” Kol snarled, taking the phone from his sister. “Your obsession to find the cure clearly trumps any siblings loyalty you once felt.”</p><p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Klaus replied. Neither twin cared if he meant it or not.</p><p>“Mark our words,” said Hilda. “We will get that diamond one day and we will make that bloody dagger, and we will put you down for good. Or maybe, just maybe, we’ll stab the White Oak stake into you. The Salvatores, Caroline Forbes, Abby Bennett, and Elena Gilbert will follow soon after. The cure will never be found.”</p><p>“Don’t threaten me!” snarled Klaus. “I’ll have you daggered, you imbecilic psychopaths! No matter how much combined strength you have, you will never match up to a hybrid!”</p><p>“Mikael trained us too, did you forget?” sneered Kol. “And unlike you, we were actually good at it. So listen closely, Niklaus. We’re going to rip off Jeremy’s arm. We’re going to kill Elena for sport. And then, we’re coming for you.”</p><p>They hung up, and sped upstairs just as Elena tried to push her dresser in front of the door, having tried to mask the sound with the brief argument that’d taken place between the siblings.</p><p>She didn’t make it in time. Together, the twins slammed into the door, and the dresser crashed down. They sped in just as Elena ran into the bathroom and closed the door. With ease, Hilda spun and kicked through the door, and then the one that followed. Elena was there, in Jeremy’s room, and her brother held a stake gun up. He fired, and Hilda easily caught the stake. “Missed,” she sneered.</p><p>Another shot, and this time, Kol caught it. “Missed again!”</p><p>Two more shots, and now, the twins were left with having to drop the two stakes they’d each caught, which gave Elena a chance to fire a pistol at them, lodging wooden bullets into their stomachs. The twins yelled out, but easily started to extract the bullets as Elena screamed for Jeremy to run, and the siblings bolted out. Hilda dove down to grab her two stakes, throwing them and managing to nail Elena in each thigh, causing her to stumble. Kol was the first to recover from the bullets and he sped to the hallway, punching Jeremy and throwing him down the stairs, the stake gun flying off to the side.</p><p>Hilda went for Elena, grabbing her before she could pull the stakes out of her legs. She punched her and slammed her into the wall, ripping out one of the stakes from her leg and stabbing it into her stomach instead, lodging her into the wall and making the younger vampire croak out in shock and in pain, looking too weak to possibly get out on her own. For good measure, Hilda grabbed Elena’s hands and snapped both of her wrists, breaking them, and causing the girl to scream out.</p><p>“Now, you’re going to have to listen as my brother mutilates yours,” Hilda purred, holding Elena by the throat and making her gasp. The Original then sped down to where Kol had bound Jeremy to the counter, leaving him immobilized. Kol held up a cleaver from the knife block. “Think this’ll do the trick, Hilly?”</p><p>She smirked. “Yes, it should.” She went over to Jeremy, booping his nose as he struggled against the bonds. “Now, we don’t fancy being infected with that nasty little Hunter’s Curse, so we’re just going to chop off your arm, and then, I’ll go back upstairs to kill that pretty little sister of yours. Don’t worry, Kol will heal you up with a bit of blood afterward, and you’ll be perfectly healthy to go and see your sister’s dead body.”</p><p>Jeremy tried to fight it, but Kol came forward, and the twins smirked at each other. “Now, which arm is it?” asked Kol, holding the cleaver up. “Is it left or right?”</p><p>“I think it’s the right one,” said Hilda.</p><p>“Depends on whether he’s left or right handed, sister,” said Kol.</p><p>“No it doesn’t. It always starts on the right.”</p><p>“It <em>usually</em> starts on the right because that’s most people’s dominant hand.” He then quickly shook his head. “Whatever, we’ll just chop off both to be safe.”</p><p>But before he could, Hilda was tackled down, and the cleaver lodged itself into her chest as she fell onto Kol, making her cry out in pain. The twins tried to scramble up, but by then, Elena had used another knife to cut through one of Jeremy’s bonds, and the two Gilbert siblings rounded on the Originals. She stabbed Hilda through the back and she staggered as Elena pinned Kol back against the counter.</p><p>Hilda was just recovering when Jeremy lifted the spray hose attached to the sink, spraying both her and Kol with vervain water and making both twins roar out in pain. There was a muffled yell as the hose stopped, and when Hilda’s vision lost its blur, she saw Jeremy stab the White Oak stake into Kol’s chest.</p><p>“NO!” Hilda screeched as Kol yelled out, trying to pull it out to no avail. He burst into flames, and Elena and Jeremy lunged back as he tried to run, tried to put out the fire. Hilda scrambled up, but there was nothing she could do but scream as the flames stopped, and Kol’s body remained, now on the floor of the living room, dead.</p><p>“NO!” she sobbed, going over and turning him onto his back. He was charred and desiccated, his eyes still wide open. “KOL! NO— NO— NO!”</p><p>She looked up through her tears at the doorway ahead, seeing the shocked, upset, and angry look on Klaus’s face. He’d apparently only just arrived, and the Gilbert siblings (who had quickly moved away from Hilda) had just seen him.</p><p>“What did you do?” Klaus asked in a deadly voice as Hilda continued to sob.</p><p>“We didn’t have a choice,” said Elena. “He was trying to cut off Jeremy’s arm!”</p><p>“Lies!” spat Klaus. “The twins never would have gotten inside if you hadn’t have set a trap for him. I told you— I told you not to make any deals with them—”</p><p>“You said you were going to put them down, too!” cried Elena.</p><p>“I was going to make them suffer on my terms!” Klaus roared. “With daggers! They’d have been put to sleep, not killed!” His jaw tightened, watching as his sister caressed Kol’s lifeless face, shaking and whimpering, unable to understand how she had just lost her best friend. Her twin brother.</p><p>“I’m going to burn this house to the ground,” Klaus snarled. “And then, when you try to flee for your lives, I'll kill you both without blinking.”</p><p>“You kill us, you’ll never get the cure,” said Jeremy. “You'll <em>never</em> be able to make any more hybrids.”</p><p>Klaus laughed maliciously. “You really think I care for an instant about my bloody hybrids? I want the cure so I can <em>destroy</em> it. I would've killed you all the second we dug it up, but now I'm just gonna watch you burn instead.”</p><p>But suddenly, he yelled out in pain. Hilda snapped her head up and watched her brother fall to his knees, holding his head. Bonnie walked in past him, looking intently at Klaus. She was using Expression again. “Invite him in,” she told the Gilberts. “Do it!”</p><p>Klaus struggled to his feet as Jeremy said, “Come in.”</p><p>Klaus’s body shot forward, and he yelled out again as he was kept in place. The other three ran, and Klaus pursued at the last second, but it was too late. Klaus was now trapped in the living room with Hilda. He banged against the invisible barrier that separated the living room and the kitchen. Reaching in, Jeremy pulled out the White Oak stake from Kol in the instant that Hilda looked up, and he then ran out the door with his sister.</p><p>“Witch, you can’t do this to me,” sneered Klaus.</p><p>“You have no idea what I can do now,” said Bonnie coldly. </p><p>“I will hunt all of you to your end!” Klaus roared. “Do you hear me? DO YOU?”</p><p>No one responded. They walked out, and Klaus rounded on Hilda. “What the bloody hell were you thinking?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you kill them instead?”</p><p>“Don’t make it seem as though this was our fault!” Hilda snapped, getting to her feet. “We tried to tell you and you refused. They planned to kill Kol to complete that stupid Mark and now they’re going to succeed. You’re always planning to dagger us when we disagree, so we had to hold back on killing Elena until we ensured the Hunter was useless! I could have killed her before, but we knew that you’d have our heads if we did. As for Jeremy— neither of us quite fancied having that idiotic Hunter’s Curse. We held back, and Kol paid the price, because we were afraid of YOU! You, our brother, who’s supposed to care about us! Do you like this, Niklaus? Destroying our family and making us fear that we’ll get our freedom taken away? If this is anyone’s fault, it’s <em>yours</em>. If you trusted your family, if you respected our input, we would have worked together. You’re such an idiot— you should have sabotaged it <em>with</em> us instead of going off of your own agenda!”</p><p>“THIS IS NOT MY FAULT!” Klaus yelled. “You and Kol— a private little cult— you never bothered to share anything with the rest of us, how were we to know that you weren’t just being ridiculous—”</p><p>Hilda scoffed. “Excuse me? Elijah and Rebekah always back you up, and <em>you’re</em> the one that can’t stop hating us— that’s exactly why we never tell you anything. You despise us, and we don’t waste our breaths trying to make you think otherwise. Is it because we were the first children Mikael had after our mother’s infidelity to him? Is it because he saw we were better fighters than you? That’s not our fault, Niklaus. We didn’t choose to be his favorites for the brief time that we were. We didn’t want you to be cast aside. We also didn’t want to make our mother love you less when we chose to spend more time with her. We just wanted to do magic. Let me remind you that when we found out you were our half-brother, we defended you, and Mikael beat us. And when you wanted to run, we joined you.”</p><p>“And yet you always tried to leave. Don’t pretend you give a damn. Kol had it coming, and you do, too.”</p><p>She slapped him across the face, making his head whip to the side. “We were trying to protect you, you colossal bloody fuck!” she spat. “Mikael was drawn to us because collectively, we were violent and it put us on the map. Separated, you would have been safer! All of us would have been safer! You— you think that we wanted to split off only to protect ourselves, but you’re wrong! Had we split, we’d have lured Mikael to where we were and thrown him off your scent, because you knew damn well we were the sloppiest when it came to murders. We would have laid our lives down for you.”</p><p>“Don’t pretend to care so bloody much,” Klaus growled. “You and Kol intended to make a dagger to put me down.”</p><p>“No, you bastard!” Hilda screamed. “We weren’t going to even use it! We just wanted to have leverage! You had no right to have control over us. No right to choose when we got to see the world and what parts of it we got to experience. We wanted freedom. We tried to talk to you, and you refused. So we went after the diamond, and next thing we knew, Rebekah betrayed us. Kol and I have only ever had each other because Elijah and Rebekah worship you like you’re some deity. We just wanted to be part of your stupid ‘Always and Forever’ and all you did was muck it up and cast us aside, as if we were useless to you! Countless times, if you had really cared to include us, we would have benefitted you greatly, because as we recall, you know nothing about spell work, and there were many times that you needed witches, but struggled to get your plans to work because they were doing all the wrong sort of magic.”</p><p>Klaus shoved her back, and Hilda retaliated, kicking him in the stomach and swiping her other leg to knock him to the ground. He snarled and jumped at her, tackling her down and biting her right in the arm, making her let out a scream of pain.</p><p>“Nik!” she cried, holding her elbow as he got off her. He’d torn through her shirt, and a nasty bite oozed blood from her skin. “Why—”</p><p>“Don’t fret, sister,” he said darkly. “My bite won’t kill you. But it’ll give you just enough hallucinations so you can see that idiot twin of yours again.”</p><p>That was it. Her eyes flashed and she pounced onto him, grabbing the closest object— a lamp— and bashing it into his head. “FUCK YOU!” she screeched, punching and clawing at wherever she could. Klaus could no longer keep up. Her strikes flew faster than he could dodge, and blood splattered over his shirt as she beat into him. “YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED INSTEAD OF HIM! I WOULDN’T HAVE FUCKING MISSED YOU! YOU— STUPID BLOODY PRAT!” She slammed his head into the ground, screaming and sobbing, her vision blurred. All she could see was red and all she could think was that she wanted Klaus to be dead, as if that would resurrect Kol.</p><p>“He was the only one that cared about me!” she sobbed, grabbing the lamp and throwing it across the room as she got off of Klaus, holding her head and beginning to hyperventilate. “He was the only one who listened— he was my best friend— you— none of you could possibly understand— you… you didn’t even mourn Finn— I was the only one he even mildly liked— I can’t— I can’t breathe—” she looked down at where Klaus’s bite was burning into her, and she let out another cry of rage. “Damn it! Damn it— damn it— it— it’s—”</p><p>She couldn’t speak, but what she wished to say was that it was like losing Henrik all over again, only a thousand times worse.</p><p>“Hilda,” said Klaus quietly. His shirt was torn and he was bleeding in several places. “Calm that psychotic little mind down… I’ll give you my blood…”</p><p>She let out a mirthless laugh. “No… I don’t want you blood, Niklaus. I don’t want anything to do with you, and the last thing I need right now are jokes and criticisms about how fucked up I am in the head. I know that. And I don't give a damn.” She slapped her hand out toward the open doorway heading out to the hall, and found that she, too, was trapped, her palm slapping into an invisible barrier. Her lip trembled and more tears rolled down her cheek. She ignored the look that Klaus cast her way, and hiccuping, moved over to Kol’s body. Where was he now? </p><p>She sat down and pulled him so that his head lay on her lap. She grasped at his arm, attempting to enter his mind, all to no avail.</p><p>“I’m so sorry,” she whispered shakily. “This— this shouldn’t have happened. I shouldn’t have held back… I should have… I should have done more… it should have been me…”</p><p>He, of course, didn’t respond. She let out a whimper and leaned down, kissing his forehead.</p><p>“You rest, now,” she said, brushing her hand down his face to close his eyes. “T-Thank you… thank you f-for…” she swallowed hard, looking up at the lightbulb on the ceiling, trying to blink away her tears. “Thank you… f-for protecting me… for being there for me… for being the best brother I could h-have ever asked for. I love you, Kol.” She leaned into his ear. “Always and F-Forever, little brother. I will do e-everything I can to bring you back. I p-promise.”</p><p>She began to sob again, and Klaus did not disturb her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda was hallucinating for the entirety of the next day.</strong>
</p><p>Tyler Lockwood had arrived in the morning to gloat at the predicament of Klaus’s entrapment. By then, Hilda was sweating, curled up on the floor trying to breathe steadily. She continued to refuse Klaus’s blood, and was in an unbelievable amount of pain.</p><p>But she didn’t care, because she could see Kol alive again.</p><p>He was on the couch, looking at her. “Sister, you look awful. Maybe you should drink the blood.”</p><p>“No,” she murmured, making both Klaus and Tyler look at her. “No blood.”</p><p>“Doesn’t it burn?” asked Kol, looking to where her arm oozed blood and pus. “That’s nasty.”</p><p>“I don’t care.”</p><p>Klaus moved closer to his sister. “Hilda—”</p><p>It was like he triggered her into becoming feral. Snarling, she would jump at him, and he’d have to retreat. She would sit back and return to gazing toward the couch.</p><p>“He’s annoying,” said Kol. “If we were hybrids, we’d poison him instead.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled. “We would, yes.”</p><p>Tyler seemed mildly concerned. Perhaps he was only curious, wishing to know what it is that she was seeing. He watched as Hilda tried to crawl toward the couch. She reached an arm out and swiped through thin air before whimpering. “Don’t leave me,” she whimpered. “Don’t…”</p><p>She couldn’t touch him. He wasn’t really there. Kol looked down at her. “Sister, get off the ground, it’s pathetic.”</p><p>Klaus made the decision to pull her back, and the image faded, making Hilda growl and swipe her hand out, striking him in the face. “GET OFF!” she said fiercely. “You’re making it worse!”</p><p>“Drink my blood, you imbecile!” he said, holding out his wrist. Hilda faced away, watching as Tyler poured himself a drink. She blinked, and beside him was Henrik.</p><p>The gentle face of her baby brother cast her a curious look. “Why’re you on the ground, Hilly?” </p><p>It brought tears to her eyes. When Henrik had started learning to talk, Esther had tried to get him to say his siblings’ names. Finn was simple. Elijah sounded more like ‘Lijah.’ Klaus was shortened to ‘Nik.’ Kol’s name was simple enough, and Rebekah became known as ‘Bex’ for the first time. </p><p>But he simply couldn’t stay Hilda’s name, and she had thought it was short enough to understand.</p><p>
  <em>“Hil-duh,” sounded out the young girl, already seven and wanting to be a good influence for the newest member of the family. “Hill… duh…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Henrik cooed and waved his little hands at her. “H— Huh—”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Esther smiled down as Hilda made a face and patted her brother’s cheeks gently. “Like this, Henrik.” She moved closer so he could see how her mouth was moving. “Hilda. Hill. Duh.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Henrik squealed. “Hilly!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Klaus snickered from behind. “How does it feel, being called ‘Hilly?’”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda didn’t mind. She beamed, and kissed Henrik’s forehead. “I like it. Henrik is the only one that can call me that.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Kol and Klaus shared a look. They’d been sitting playing with some of Klaus’s carvings while their sister tried to get their baby brother talking. “Hilly,” they said, and she turned around, glaring at them.</em>
</p><p>Henrik had been the one that really came up with all their nicknames. Normally, they were all referred to by their full names, either by each other or their parents. It was Henrik who, in his struggle to learn to speak, had simplified them and given them another way to identify themselves. They adored him, and so, Henrik was the only one allowed to call them by their nicknames.</p><p>When Henrik died, however, they allowed each other to use the nicknames. Klaus only ever wanted his siblings to call him ‘Nik,’ while everyone else was asked to call him ‘Klaus.’ Hilda gave them permission to call her ‘Hilly.’ Rebekah pleaded for them to call her ‘Bex’ more often than ‘Bekah.’ Even Elijah said it was fine for them to omit the first letter of his name.</p><p>The loss of their youngest brother had hit them very hard. And in not being able to see him ever again, they bonded over remembering him through the names he’d once called them by.</p><p>“Henrik,” whispered Hilda, crawling toward the kitchen, which was just out of reach from the boundary spell. “Come closer—”</p><p>Klaus looked over at her in concern. He watched her crawl to the invisible barrier, her head hitting weakly against it before she slumped down, seeing Henrik remained rooted to where he was.</p><p>“Where’s Kol, Hilly?” he asked her. “He was supposed to climb trees with me.”</p><p>Hilda’s lip trembled. “K-Kol is… h-he’s…”</p><p>Henrik stared blankly at her. “He’s dead.”</p><p>She swallowed hard. “Yes.”</p><p>The little boy came to crouch down in front of her. “He’s not at peace,” said Henrik firmly. “He can’t be. He’ll never know calm.”</p><p>“I-I will bring him back, Henrik.”</p><p>“Will you bring me back?”</p><p>“I-I will try. I’ve always tried.”</p><p>“No you haven’t.”</p><p>Hilda nodded her head vigorously. “Yes I have! Magic— we learned—”</p><p>Henrik disappeared, and she let out a stifled sob.</p><p>It wasn't until the evening that she was able to be herself again. She had gone into such a dazed state that Klaus had been able to slip her his blood to heal her faster. She wouldn’t have died anyway, but hearing her speaking to thin air was going to drive him insane.</p><p>The pain subsided and she was left weak against the wall, only able to stare at the corpse of her dead twin. The door opened, and Hilda moved her gaze up to watch Caroline Forbes entering the house. “You’re still here?” she said to Tyler. “What are you doing?”</p><p>He was pouring himself yet another drink. “Gloating.” He nodded to where Klaus had stood, walking toward the edge of the barrier before half-smiling at the blonde. “Hello, Caroline.”</p><p>She glared at him for a moment before turning her attention back to Tyler. “Come home. Don’t stoop to his level.”</p><p>Tyler shook his head. “He destroyed my life. I plan on being present for every second of his misery until I can kill him myself.”</p><p>Caroline sighed. “Fine. You can gloat and multitask. This place is a disaster. Starting with a horrific burnt corpse.”</p><p>She took a tablecloth and moved to drape it over Kol’s body, as it was halfway across the barrier. Hilda sped forward and blocked her from doing it. “Don’t,” she sneered. “You don’t get to be the one that decides what happens with my brother’s body.”</p><p>Klaus looked down at his sister, then at Caroline. “Tyler's mother is dead. So is my brother. We're even. Call Bonnie. Get her to let me out of here.”</p><p>Caroline was not amused. “I will never, <em>ever</em>, help you.”</p><p>“How quickly you forget the part where I saved Tyler from the misery of being a werewolf,” said Klaus. “Or the night your mother invited me into her home to save the life of her precious daughter.”</p><p>“How delusional are you? You killed his <em>mother</em>. And let's not forget that we're standing in a house where Elena's aunt Jenna used to live. Or did you think that your charm would make us forget how you killed her, too? You know what? No. I am not going to engage in this. You are not even worth the calories I burn talking to you.”</p><p>Klaus sped back and within seconds had grabbed the lamp that Hilda had used to beat him over the head and impaled Caroline with it. Tyler yelled out as Klaus pulled her into the barrier, biting into her neck before dropping her to the floor. “Now, that was definitely worth the calories.”</p><p>Caroline let out a scream of pain as the shock hit her. She scrambled out of the living room and toward Tyler, who pulled out the lamp and went to carry her to the sofa in the other room, where Klaus and Hilda couldn’t reach. “Oh my god!” she cried. “Oh my god! Oh my god—”</p><p>“Can you shut the bloody hell up?” snarled Hilda, already back to leaning against the wall. </p><p>“Hey, hey,” said Tyler, ignoring her and cupping Caroline’s face. “Look at me. Look at me. I can fix this.”</p><p>“How?” Caroline shrieked. “How? The only thing that can heal me is his blood! Oh my god…”</p><p>“I know,” said Tyler. “I’ll fix it.” He turned to Klaus, who was watching with amusement. “She’ll die if you don’t heal her.”</p><p>Klaus smirked. “Okay.” He bit into his wrist and extended his arm. “Beg me to save her life.”</p><p>Tyler’s jaw twitched. “Is this what you want? To remind me that I'm powerless against you? Fine. You win. I'm nothing. Now save her. Please.”</p><p>Klaus held a hand to his ear. “I'm sorry, mate. I didn't quite catch that.”</p><p>“Please,” Tyler repeated.</p><p>“Please…?”</p><p>“Please save her life.”</p><p>Klaus shot him a cheeky grin. “See, now I think you're just telling me what I want to hear. I mean, you did call me pathetic earlier. And wouldn't it be more pathetic of me to help now, knowing that hours ago, you announced your plan to kill me in a manner in which you're debating because you want it to have a certain amount of flair? I'm just asking.”</p><p>Tyler stomped his foot down. “I'll be your slave again. I'll do whatever you want. Just help her.”</p><p>“No,” Klaus replied firmly.</p><p>Caroline looked away from the scene. “Get me out of here. I can't even look at him.”</p><p>Tyler went back to her and scooped her up. “Come on.” The pair left the room, and Hilda grabbed a nearby candle, throwing it at the opposite wall.</p><p>“I’ll burn this house to the ground,” Hilda sneered, mostly to herself. “I’ll murder Jeremy first. Slice off his head. Then, I’ll tear out Elena’s heart. I’ll make Tyler watch as Caroline dies then I’ll rip his heart out, too. I’ll compel the Salvatore brothers to kill each other. And when Bonnie is the last one standing… I’ll do her the mercy of just snapping her neck.”</p><p>Klaus was amused, but not necessarily paying attention. He tried to listen to the conversation between Tyler and Caroline upstairs. “You hallucinated our brothers,” he said instead. </p><p>Hilda didn’t want to speak to him about that. “You bit me,” she replied. “If I had a way of becoming a hybrid, or something worse, I’d torment you every day until you wished you were dead.”</p><p>“You are not the only one who mourns them, Hilda.”</p><p>“I’m the only one that actually gave a damn about Kol,” she seethed. “And he was the only one who gave a damn about me. The other three of you just ban us from your little posse and made us feel like idiots even though we know more about witchcraft than the lot of you put together.” She refrained from mentioning Henrik. She knew Klaus mourned him most of all. He felt as though it was his fault that their baby brother had died in the first place.</p><p>There was a shuffling sound, and Tyler returned, carrying Caroline into the living room and setting her down at Klaus’s feet. “You want to be in control, Klaus? Here. Now you get to be in control of her life. If you want her to die, fine. But then you can sit here and watch her die yourself.”</p><p>He walked out of the house, and Hilda watched as Klaus approached the blonde. “Nothing personal, love. If I cure you, that means victory for him. Don't worry. It won't be long now.”</p><p>Hilda scoffed. “If you want it to not hurt, Barbie, I can easily end your misery before any hallucinations start.”</p><p>Klaus whirled to face her. “You will do no such thing.”</p><p>She stood, glaring at him. “And why the hell not? You bit her. You don’t want her to live anymore. She will die from this. Maybe I want to spare her the torment I endured all day. Spare her any pain. Kol died screaming. Burning. Forgive me for wanting her to die quickly so she’s not bitching and annoying me.”</p><p>Caroline coughed weakly. “She’s sort of right,” she managed. “If you don’t feed me… your blood… I’ll die.”</p><p>Klaus didn’t face her. “Then you'll die, and Tyler will have learned his lesson the hard way.”</p><p>Caroline frowned. “How could you do this to him? To his mom? To… me?”</p><p>“I’m a thousand years old,” said the hybrid. “Call it boredom.”</p><p>“I don’t believe you.”</p><p>“Fine,” said Klaus, turning back to her. “Then maybe it's because I'm pure evil, and I can't help myself.”</p><p>Caroline glared fixedly at him. “It's because you were hurt. Which means that there is a part of you that is human. Just how there is… a part in your siblings that makes them… better, sometimes.”</p><p>Klaus walked toward her. “How could you possibly think that of me?”</p><p>“Because I’ve seen it. Because… I've caught myself wishing that I could forget all the horrible things that you've done.”</p><p>“But you can’t, can’t you?”</p><p>“I know that you're in love with me. And anybody capable of love is capable of being saved.”</p><p>Klaus’s breath hitched. “You’re starting to hallucinate…”</p><p>Caroline gulped. “I guess I’ll never know.” She closed her eyes, her breathing weak. Hilda wanted to crack a joke that she felt like she was third-wheeling, but instead, she kept her eyes fixated on her brother, to see what he would do.</p><p>“Caroline?” he whispered. When she didn’t answer, he cursed under his breath and went to sit behind Caroline, bringing her head onto his lap. He bit into his wrist and put it to her mouth. He smoothed her hair as she lifted her hands, clasping his tightly as she fed.</p><p>The instant she was lucid enough, she left. Hilda watched enviously as Caroline strolled right out of the border and onto the dark streets of Mystic Falls.</p><p>“Are we seriously going to be trapped in here for another day?” Hilda snarled, pressing her hand back over the invisible boundary. “Fucking hell….”</p><p>Klaus sat beside her. She refrained from looking at him. “Why did you save her?” she asked darkly. </p><p>“I did not wish for her to die,” said Klaus simply. “Just as I did not wish for our brother to die. I could never want such a thing. You twins are a force to be reckoned with and yes, I put you down often, but I never sought to lose either of you.”</p><p>Hilda snorted, and Klaus continued, “If it appeases you to pin the fault on me, then by all means, do so. I could care less if you blame me for the deaths of all three of our brothers. I will not hold it against you.”</p><p>“I won’t blame you for Finn’s death. Or Henrik’s. Or Kol’s,” she muttered. “It’s the things you say. The way you act about it. You say things like ‘good riddance’ and you— you tried to act as though it was my fault that Kol died. I never once said anything cruel to you about what happened with Henrik. The first thing you chose to do right when you saw that we lost our brother— <em>my</em> <em>twin—</em> was to criticize me.”</p><p>Klaus put his hand on hers. “It was wrong of me,” he said quietly. “It isn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have bitten you.” </p><p>Hilda let out a shaky sigh. “No… you shouldn’t have.” She held out her phone, whose battery was dead by then. “The others must know by now. Have they contacted you?”</p><p>“Rebekah is aware. Elijah, I am uncertain.”</p><p>She nodded, swallowing back more tears that threatened to spill out. Klaus noticed this and put his arm around her, averting his gaze from the body on the ground in front of them. He stroked his sister’s hair gently, and Hilda let out a sob, covering her face before leaning against his shoulder and beginning to cry once again.</p><p>Caroline and Tyler were back in the morning, with a laptop and a blanket with something wrapped inside of it. Hilda was too emotionally exhausted to ask questions, therefore, Klaus did it for her. “Need my help with anything, love?” he asked Caroline, smirking at her. </p><p>“Nope,” she said. Klaus frowned, and turned his attention to Tyler. “Well, if it isn't little orphan Lockwood. Come to show how laughably impotent you are against me?”</p><p>Tyler remained unfazed. “I'm just trying to help my friends find the cure.” He removed the blanket to reveal the thing inside of it was a sword. “Found this in your attic.”</p><p>Klaus raised his eyebrows. “And you think finding the sword brings you closer to the cure?”</p><p>“You tell me,” said Tyler, unwrapping the leather at the top of the sword. “I was playing around with the handle on the ride over, and I found this.” Beneath the leather was a device that turned, with runes on it.</p><p>“And what do you think ‘this’ is?” inquired Klaus.</p><p>Caroline answered. “It's called a cryptex.” When Tyler cast her a look, she made a face. “ I've seen <em>The Da Vinci Code.</em>You turn the different sides to the different symbols to get the translation on the other side.” She glanced back at where her laptop was set up. “And with the magic of the internet, Elena sent over these.” She walked over and pulled out some print-outs of Jeremy’s tattoo, which were tucked neatly under the keyboard. “So now all we have to do is cryptex away.” She glanced at the two Original siblings. “If you happened to want to help, we wouldn't stop you.”</p><p>Klaus glanced back to where Hilda was staring blankly at the floor. “Right. Well, might I suggest using the magic of the internet to purchase an Aramaic-to-English dictionary from your nearest retailer.”</p><p>“What’s Aramaic?” said Tyler, furrowing his brows. </p><p>Caroline pursed her lips. “It's a dead language. It hasn't been used since, like, biblical times.”</p><p>“Qetsiyah’s native tongue,” Hilda muttered, making the other three looking at her. “Very difficult to translate even with the best dictionary.” She looked up at them. “<em>In bas so teen too ara ma eet</em>.”</p><p>Klaus smirked devilishly as Caroline frowned. “What does that mean?”</p><p>The hybrid held back a mocking laugh. “She said, ‘if only you spoke Aramaic.’”</p><p>Caroline and Tyler let out frustrated groans. Hilda and Klaus smirked to themselves, watching as the younger vampire and hybrid started to open several tabs on the computer, moving the pictures around. Being as organized as she was, Caroline brought out index cards to organize, looking up online dictionaries. It took about two hours before Caroline decided to check their progress.</p><p>“Okay, this is it,” she said. “We’ve translated all the symbols on the tattoo.” She looked down at the arranged index cards. “Passage inside… requires a young senator, and a pretty flower…” she let out an irritated sigh. “Okay, none of this makes sense.”</p><p>Hilda groaned loudly. “‘Requires a powerful witch and a hunter in full bloom,’” she said. “Bonnie and Jeremy.”</p><p>Klaus stood from where he’d been sitting. “Caroline. Bring my sword over here.”</p><p>The blonde was skeptical, but she brought it over. Hilda watched her brother reading from the runes. “‘Silas rests on the far side, the means of his destruction at hand.’” He peered at the laptop. “Turn the cryptex to the right.” Caroline did so. “Stop. ‘The top of the hilt reveals a key to a nautical map.’ Turn it to the left… now the other piece… there’s something else.” He beckoned for Hilda to get up. Groaning, she got to her feet and looked over the runes. A wicked smirk came onto her face, and Tyler and Caroline looked alarmed.</p><p>“What does it say?” said Caroline urgently. </p><p>“<em>Pa sin be siles be hada et bez ha dur mahn</em>,” recited Hilda. </p><p>“No— what does it mean?” pressed the blonde. </p><p>“Call our sister,” said Klaus. “She will need to be updated on the progress.”</p><p>Caroline probably should have tried to interrogate them further. Instead, she pulled out her phone and dialed Rebekah’s number.</p><p>“Hello?” asked Rebekah.</p><p>“Hey, it’s Caroline. We have the translation of the tattoo.” Caroline let the phone rest on her shoulder as she started to type on her laptop. “We’re emailing you pictures of the map and instructions right now.”</p><p>There was a pause. “Got it,” said Rebekah. “Thanks.”</p><p>“Actually, it was Hilda and I,” said Klaus loudly.</p><p>Rebekah most likely made a face of surprise. “Nik, Hilly— you helped?”</p><p>“You sound so surprised, little sister,” Hilda said, sitting back on the arm of the couch. </p><p>“Shouldn’t I be? Neither of you want to be human. Nik doesn’t want me to be human. Hilda and—” there was an awkward pause. “Hilda… didn’t want this cure found. Why would either of you help us find it?”</p><p>Klaus shrugged. “Maybe I finally realized the longer I stand in the way of what you want, the longer you'll continue to hate me. Perhaps I want my sister to finally know happiness, after seeing the pain that Hilda is feeling at this moment.”</p><p>Another pause. “Fool me once,” said Rebekah, “shame on you. Fool me a hundred times—”</p><p>“No more fooling,” said Klaus. “No more games. I hope you get to live, and die, as you wish.”</p><p>“So do I.”</p><p>“Bex,” said Hilda, making herself look very sad so that Caroline and Tyler would suspect nothing. She then began to speak as quickly as she could: “There is only one dose of the cure, you need to find it first and take it, it’s the only way you’ll—”</p><p>Tyler slammed down on the ‘End Call’ button, and the two in front of her glared at her. “What the hell?” snapped Tyler.</p><p>“You lot killed my twin brother,” Hilda snarled. “Forgive me if I want my sister to be the one that benefits from this stupid quest. After all, had you all listened to Kol and I, he wouldn’t be dead.”</p><p>Caroline and Tyler were silent, leaving Hilda to turn away, facing the wall.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>It was evening when they realized the barrier had been dropped.</strong>
</p><p>Hilda hadn’t spoken again. She’d zoned out, ignoring whatever conversation transpired between Klaus and Caroline. Twice she failed to realize that Tyler was in the room, staring at her as if much more concerned now that she was staring into space.</p><p>“Hilly.”</p><p>She was shaken by Klaus, and it made her look up. “Up you come,” he said, pulling her to her feet. “The barrier’s been dropped.”</p><p>She reached a hand out, swiping through where the invisible wall used to be. She let out a shaky sigh realizing he was right. Turning back, she went to where her twin’s body still lay. Kneeling down, she hoisted him up, and Klaus aided her, slinging the corpse of their brother over his shoulder. </p><p>They walked out to the front porch, where Caroline sat on a swing. She was alarmed when she registered their presence. “How did you get out?”</p><p>“I fear something awful has befallen your friend Bonnie,” said Klaus. He moved toward Caroline, who tensed. “Don't worry, love. You know I'd never hurt you.”</p><p>“You’ve done enough,” said the blonde.</p><p>“I’ve done more than enough. I've shown kindness, forgiveness, pity… because of you, Caroline. It was all for you.”</p><p>The two stared at each other for a moment before the younger vampire fixated her gaze on Hilda. “I know it might not mean anything to you when I say it,” she said, “but I’m really sorry about your brother. I didn’t know what they were planning.”</p><p>“You’re right, it doesn’t mean anything,” said Hilda, her voice completely emotionless.</p><p>Caroline went rigid, and shrank back into the swing. “Did she…?”</p><p>“No, love, she didn’t,” said Klaus confidently. “She’s certainly realized by now that she cannot turn it off. After all this time, us Originals have lost the ability to turn off our humanity. This fact, I had not shared with the twins, as we learned of it while they were daggered.”</p><p>Hilda watched as Caroline gave her a look of pity. The blonde couldn’t imagine how terrible that could be. Hilda had no idea before this, that she couldn’t turn her humanity off. She had been trapped for three days with a brother that mistreated her and the dead body of the brother who understood her better than anyone. Surely she wanted to take the pain away, and she couldn’t. </p><p>Caroline pursed her lips. “I… I don’t know what to say. I know it’s not the same to compare the fact that I lost my dad. I can’t… even begin to imagine what it’s like to lose a twin. I don’t have siblings, so…”</p><p>Klaus half-smiled at her, thankful for the fact that she was trying to convey her sympathy for hs sister. But Hilda was in no mood to listen.</p><p>The two Originals sped back to the Mikaelson Manor. Klaus set Kol’s body down gently on the sofa as Hilda went straight for the liquor, grabbing the one of the largest bottles, and another smaller one that had one of the highest alcohol contents. Not even bothering to get a class, she sat down in front of the window and popped them open, beginning to drink.</p><p>Klaus sat cautiously beside her. “Would you like me to call Elijah?”</p><p>“No.” She got up to go put her phone to charge, then returned. “If he’s not already on his way, I don’t wish to see him.” She took a long swig of one of the bottles. It burned her throat, but she liked the pain. It was a distraction from the ache in her chest that came from something that she couldn’t physically heal as a vampire. </p><p>“Are there any particular arrangements you see fit to include in the aftermath, sister? A choice of flowers. Burial.”</p><p>“You need to burn him,” she said without missing a beat. “We need to preserve his ashes. If there’s ever a way to bring him back, we’ll need them.”</p><p>“Alright. Is there—?”</p><p>“Klaus. If there’s something I need right now, it’s for you to either drink with me in silence or just leave. I can’t do this. I really don’t want to talk right now.”</p><p>He didn’t mind that. The less words he needed to exchange with her, the better. Especially when he was trying to be comforting. He went to the cabinet and brought back a bottle for himself, uncorking it before drinking alongside her, careful not to do anything that would trigger any violent reaction.</p><p>She wanted to fly off the handle. She wanted to shut it all off and be merciless. To make others feel the pain that she now felt. Yet, something within her nagged. Reminded her that this was a poor choice.</p><p>So she drank. She didn’t yet act on any of the rage she had built up. It would spill out, eventually. That was inevitable.</p><p>When Klaus had gone to bed, Hilda had gone to shower. She let herself sob then, the water masking any noise she made and removing the tear stains that’d accumulated over the past days. Holding herself, she whimpered and muffled her cries, bringing the pressure up so that the droplets could assault her skin. To feel some discomfort that wasn’t all in her head.</p><p>Klaus cremated Kol the next morning. He found Hilda had been awake the entire night after her shower, drinking. She’d compelled the servants to find her more liquor and bring it. She could hardly walk upright, therefore she’d remained seated in an armchair, finishing bottle after bottle. She’d let the empty ones rest on the table together, planning to toss them around at a later time.</p><p>The hybrid approached her with an urn in his hands. He set it down beside her, patting the lid before going to sit across from her. He watched her look at the urn, eyes scanning over the exterior features. For a terrible moment, he thought she would throw it at the wall, but then, she just began to cry again.</p><p>It was many weeks before she made it out of the house. She’d drank practically all the alcohol in Mystic Falls. She cried profusely nearly every day. She wouldn’t respond to text messages anymore. It was up to Klaus and Rebekah to update Elijah on her condition. Hilda hardly spoke a word to the two siblings who were there with her in person. Kol’s urn remained on her nightstand, and she refused to let anyone move it.</p><p>“Hilly,” said Rebekah gently. “I’m going to start looking for a prom dress. Do you want to come with me?”</p><p>Hilda continued to gaze at the ceiling, sprawled on her bed. She shook her head in response.</p><p>“You’re sure? You could pick a dress for yourself, too. It might be good for you to get out of the house.”</p><p>Again, she shook her head. Rebekah continued to press on.</p><p>“We could go and have a little feeding fest after.”</p><p>“Rebekah, I really don’t want to go,” Hilda muttered.</p><p>Her sister came to sit at the foot of her bed. “You haven’t been outside in weeks. You hardly eat and hardly drink blood now. You may not be able to get sick, but—”</p><p>“You’re right, I can’t get sick,” she said scathingly. “I can’t die, either. You know, often, when someone loses a twin, they die shortly after? It’s worse with identical twins. Here I am, immortal as Hell, reminded every day that Kol’s not here. So with all due respect, Rebekah, fuck off. I really don’t want to do anything.”</p><p>Rebekah frowned, but got up and left her room.</p><p>Klaus wasn’t so patient. </p><p>Selfish as ever and wanting his sister to aid him with his agenda, he couldn’t wait much longer for her to recover. There was so much he wanted to speak to her about. He wanted to tell her about how Jeremy Gilbert was dead and how Elena had turned off her humanity. He wanted to tell her how Katerina Petrova had taken the cure and had attempted to kill Hayley Marshall, since the werewolf had initially been helping her get to Silas. Hell, he even wanted to brag and tell her that he managed to sleep with Hayley. Typically, he told Kol about his conquests, but with him gone, Hilda was the next best thing. He wanted her help to find Silas, who they suspected was in Mystic Falls, hiding between bodies. The other day, Silas himself had attacked Klaus, and Hilda had been deaf to his cries of agony, part of the White Oak stake lodged into his back. </p><p>He stormed in, kicking her door open. “Hilda, stop this nonsense! You’re a bloody Original and you sulking in here makes us all look weak.”</p><p>She snorted. “I bet you’re having fun being a dick to me again.”</p><p>“Get up this instant!”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>He sped toward her and yanked her up. She didn’t fight it, out of fear that an altercation would knock over the urn. Klaus shook her roughly. “Snap out of it, damn it!” he roared right in her face. </p><p>She stared up blankly. “I may not be able to shut off my emotions, Niklaus, but I can do a pretty good job of shoving them aside. So let go of me.”</p><p>“Not until you bloody do something productive! You’ve grieved enough.”</p><p>She slapped him hard enough to get his grip to loosen. “Don’t you dare tell me when I’ve done enough grieving!” she snarled coldly. “I will be done grieving when I want to be done, and you have no say in it!”</p><p>They’d called in their backup when this plan had failed.</p><p>Elijah had already been nearby, having come to Willoughby, Pennsylvania in order to meet with Katherine. They had acquired the cure, and he and Rebekah had come to the Mikaelson Manor for the night, as the date for prom had arrived and Rebekah was set to attend. </p><p>He walked into Hilda’s room, finding her curled up with a pillow hugged to her chest. Without speaking, he sat down behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “When you were born,” he said quietly, “I remember… I was so excited. I hadn’t quite been able to understand the miracle of life with Niklaus. I remember… our father came from where Mother had been with the midwife… announcing that at long last, we had a sister.” He took her hand, going into her mind to show her the memory.</p><p>
  <em>She was looking through Elijah’s eyes. He was following an older Finn, tall already and walking toward the home they lived in. Elijah was holding onto the younger Klaus’s hand, keeping him from wandering off. Mikael awaited them at the door, and he knelt in front of them. “Boys,” he said firmly, looking at them with a serious expression. “You recall what I said?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Finn had nodded. “Yes, Father. You said we have a sister.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mikael’s lip twitched, and he nodded. “It appears, your sister came accompanied. You have another brother.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Twins?” asked Elijah, and Mikael nodded. “We have named them Hilda and Kol. You go in there and do not touch them. They are fragile at the moment, and you cannot let yourself be tempted to be soft. They will grow, and you will be able to play with them when they can move on their own.” He looked to Klaus and smiled a bit. In that time, he still though Klaus was his son, and he saw in him a fighter that had infinite potential. “Your little sister and brother are going to want to follow your footsteps. Will you be strong and teach them to fight, Niklaus?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He nodded, his big eyes like orbs as they tried to look past Mikael. The man stood and opened the door for them. Finn went in first and went to sit beside Esther, who was holding two small bundles. The eldest of the Mikaelsons peered over, and Elijah caught him smiling. “She looks like Freya, Mother,” said Finn. “But with dark hair like Elijah and I.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mikael smiled proudly. “She does. And your brother, he resembles Elijah.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Elijah moved forward, and tiptoed to look at the twins. He grinned as he heard them babbling. So small, and they were reaching out to each other, and cooing almost in unison. Klaus tugged at Elijah’s cloak. “I want to see!” he said impatiently.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mikael went forward and picked both Klaus and Elijah up so that they could see the twins better. Klaus let out a gasp, and Elijah watched as they began to cry. Their father made to carry them out, and Elijah peered back over his shoulder as Finn helped to drape the blanket over his mother’s chest so that she could breastfeed. The night was cold, and he feared that the twins would catch cold.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Thank you, Finn,” said Esther, looking up and smiling at Elijah. “You will see them again tomorrow, Elijah. You can meet them properly, then.”</em>
</p><p>He released her arm, and Hilda let out a shaky gasp. “Why did you show me that?” he whispered.</p><p>“That’s not all I have to show you,” he said.</p><p>Again, he grasped her, taking her into yet another memory.</p><p>
  <em>The twins were older now, and Elijah was with Finn, teaching them to walk on a day that Mikael was training with Klaus, just before Esther had sabotaged his skill. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Come on, Hilda,” said Elijah, reaching his arms out to his sister. She and Kol were sitting side by side, smacking each other. “Come, Kol.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Finn waved his hands in their faces, and the twins squealed. “Get up, you can do it,” he said encouragingly, looking up at Esther for approval. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda turned to look at Kol and patted his head. She grabbed onto him, pulling herself to her feet. Elijah and Finn clapped, but Kol started to cry, pushing her to fall down before getting up completely on his own, and walking toward his brothers. Hilda began to fuss, and Finn picked her up, bringing her to where Kol had already walked into Elijah’s open arms.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You’ll learn too, Hilda,” he said. “He just wants to be better because you were born first.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She whined and looked toward Kol, swiping her hand out. He caught it and started to giggle, no longer crying now that he saw how displeased he’d made her. Elijah rocked his little brother in his arms. “Be nice. She wants to learn too.” He set Kol back down, and the little boy waddled over to Esther. Before getting to her, he turned back as Finn set Hilda down. He swayed and clapped, and Hilda, wanting to catch up to him, walked over as fast as she could. She nearly fell, but Kol held out his hands, and she caught them, which was enough to stabilize her. The twins began to giggle in unison now, and Finn and Elijah clapped once more, which the two babies began to imitate.</em>
</p><p>“Stop,” begged Hilda, pushing his arm off. “Why…”</p><p>“You think that you have lost him forever,” said Elijah, facing away from her. “Yet, the three of us that remain have many memories to share with you. You have your own memories. Someone that was with you for so long and who meant so much to you is not someone that can be forgotten. No matter how tempted we may be to be changed. To be cleansed and to forget… it’s important to remember that holding onto those thoughts can bring us comfort.”</p><p>Her lip trembled. “I won’t ever see him again,” she whispered. “Memories won’t be enough.”</p><p>“They won’t be enough, no. It will always bring you some sort of pain to remember that he isn’t physically in front of you anymore. But even in loss he is still your twin brother. He will always be your other half. And you know magic better than any of us, Hilda. If there is a way to bring him back to life, you will find it, I am sure of it. What you might want to try is speaking to him. Perhaps you won’t see him. Perhaps you won’t hear him or feel his presence. But he will be anywhere that you remember him. Your imagination is vivid. He will be there if you wish for him to be.” He reached for the urn and lowered it beside her. “He is here. And you should speak as though he’s right in front of you. It will help.”</p><p>He stood and walked out of the room. Hilda looked at the urn that he’d placed in her hands. Sitting up, she gulped, and set it against the pillow as if he was laying beside her, the way he used to when they were children and slept in the same bed. They’d be up for hours whispering and planning what adventures they’d have, what magic they’d ask their mother to teach them.</p><p>She closed her eyes and put one of her palms against the smooth surface of the urn. “Kol,” she whispered. “Elijah says you’re here. I… I hope that you are. I guess I’ll never know…”</p><p>She swallowed back some tears and kept her voice as steady as possible. “They always say… that it’s difficult for a twin to lose their other half. But those twins are together for less than one hundred and fifty years. They live mortal lives, knowing that their life is fragile and finite. They appreciate every moment together even if they get into disagreements.”</p><p>Hilda was no longer able to contain her tears. “For nearly one thousand and thirty years, you were at my side. We thought we’d be immortal forever. We traveled and lived every day to the fullest. We did everything together. You were my partner in crime. My best friend. The one who understood me most. My true other half. And now… I have to live without you. I never before thought of what I’d do if I lost you. It didn’t sound plausible. For over a thousand years you accompanied me. Comforted me. Finished my sentences. Thought of the same things at the same time. I-I always used to tease you about being older than you by a few minutes, joking that those moments without you were the best time of my life because I was free. And yet I never realized how much it would hurt to live while you died. I wasn’t prepared to ever lose you. It’s difficult to want to think of what I’ll do now, without you by my side.”</p><p>She sniffled, already having drenched the pillow. “I’m s-scared, K-Kol,” she stammered. “I-I don’t know what’s gonna h-happen to me. H-How am I supposed to live here without you? I’m gonna fucking lose it. I know it. I want to cry and turn it off and it’s so bloody hard. I need you. I wasn’t ready to have to be alone. The fact that y-you’re gone is tearing me apart. I-I need my twin. I need my brother…”</p><p>Hugging the urn to her chest, she started to sob loudly. Elijah returned and said nothing as he watched her curling up, keeping the urn protected as if she feared someone was going to snatch it away from her. He sat beside her and pulled her into his arms, simply letting her cry. He rocked her, humming a gentle lullaby to soothe her. </p><p>“I-I miss h-him so m-much,” she choked, shaking her head as he stroked her hair.</p><p>“As do I,” he whispered. </p><p>He glanced back as he heard movement amidst Hilda’s sobs. Rebekah had come in, already dressed for prom and ready to leave. She came to sit on Hilda’s bed and took her hand. Hilda looked up and sniffled. “Y-You look beautiful, B-Bex…”</p><p>Rebekah smiled. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m um… following a challenge that Elijah set for me. Acting as human as I can for the day to show that I can deal with the consequences of taking the cure.”</p><p>Hilda laughed lightly. “D-Don’t tell me you actually…”</p><p>“I’ve done very well, excuse you,” said Rebekah defensively, though playfully. </p><p>“Wow. So by the end of the night, you’re going to be human?”</p><p>“I would hope so. Elijah’s safeguarding the cure until I come back. It’s been complicated but I can manage it. I want this, Hilly. I want a family of my own.”</p><p>Hilda sighed and pulled her sister into an individual hug. “As long as you don’t hide your children away from us. I want to be an aunt.”</p><p>“Of course I’ll bring them to meet their Aunt Hilly,” said Rebekah, rubbing her sister’s back and looking at Elijah, who seemed very happy to know that his talk with Hilda had worked. </p><p>When Rebekah left to her prom, Hilda got out of her room. Elijah led her downstairs and got the servants to make her a meal. “Do you feel better, sister?” he inquired.</p><p>She nodded slowly. “A little bit. I’m starving, though.”</p><p>“Perhaps I can help with that.”</p><p>The two Originals turned back as Klaus entered the room, holding out a wine glass with blood. “The best medicine is always a good feed. A proper rampage is what she needs.”</p><p>Elijah rubbed his forehead as Hilda was served some ham and turkey. “Niklaus, it is really not the time to be suggesting such violence.”</p><p>Klaus shrugged and sat down with them, swirling the crimson liquid in the glass. “I assure you, Elijah, it will benefit her greatly. She hasn't had a proper release of energy in quite awhile.”</p><p>Hilda squirmed. She wanted to be reckless— that was a default mechanism for her. She thirsted for blood and being able to control who got to live and who got to die. However, this offer was not as appealing as it usually was. Perhaps it was the fact that Klaus wasn’t exactly bringing her the most comfort. Or the fact that Kol wouldn’t be at her side, just as violent.</p><p>“Niklaus,” Elijah said sternly. “Do not goad her.”</p><p>Scowling, Klaus left the room, and Hilda let out a soft sigh. “Part of me wants to. The other part doesn’t.”</p><p>“Listen to that part that doesn’t. You’ve put your emotions on hold for too long, sister. You have not let yourself feel enough. You have grieved continuously for weeks and in order to heal, you can’t incorporate such activities. Find something to occupy your mind, and go with it. It will aid you in processing things and finding a purpose.”</p><p>The opportunity presented itself faster than she could have expected. She had returned upstairs to shower. When she returned, she found that Silas had apparently taken the cure from Elijah. She had gone downstairs to speak with Klaus about what they were going to do when she saw him holding a letter.</p><p>“Read it,” he said, thrusting it toward her. Furrowing her eyebrows, she took the parchment gently.</p><p>“Klaus,” the person had written. “I hear Elijah has refused you the cure and in return, you have refused me my freedom. Shame on you both. But while you boys sort out your problems, I have one last thing to offer you. I've caught wind that there is a witch in New Orleans named Jane-Anne Deveraux plotting a move against you. Hunt her down. What she has to say will rattle you so deeply to your core that chasing little old me will be the least of your concerns. It's been a fun five centuries, Klaus, but I've worn down too many good heels running from you. Love, and hate, Katerina.”</p><p>Hilda made a face. “What? But—”</p><p>“Pack your bags,” said Klaus roughly as he brushed past her. “We’re going back to New Orleans.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>The Mikaelson jet came in handy.</strong>
</p><p>“You’re telling me you’ve had a jet this entire time?” said Hilda as Klaus stopped the car at the airport.</p><p>“For special occasions only, sister,” the hybrid told her, smirking devilishly as she stared in awe at the smaller plane. “We’ll be quite comfortable. Drinks in the sky. A faster trip to my city.”</p><p>“Technically it doesn’t belong to any of us. We weren’t born there.”</p><p>Klaus rolled his eyes. “Oh, shut up.”</p><p>But it sort of was their city. Hilda loved New Orleans more than any other place she had stayed in. Being there made her happy. She had felt like she could truly be at home there. She and Kol had had a grand time running around with those witches in the 1900s, and they’d always been highly respected. </p><p>The jet landed and a spacious car was hailed to drive them into the French Quarter. Klaus was not indulging in as many drinks as his sister, likely to keep his head more clear if they were to be dealing with an enemy. Hilda didn’t mind. After all, she liked fights best when she was drunk because that was a real test to her skill. How levelheaded she could be in order to win while intoxicated.</p><p>“Welcome to the dark side of New Orleans,” said the human tour guide on the street as they climbed out of the car. “A supernatural playground where the living are easily lost, and the dead stick around to play.”</p><p>Hilda smirked. “Ooh, scary,” she said, the two Originals walking into the milieu, where several card and palm readers had their tables set up. Most were fakes who simply wanted to make money. Some, they knew, were real witches who could give out real remedies and advice based on true readings of the aura and a vague future.</p><p>The siblings knew right away how to pinpoint which one was a real witch. The fakes were far too comfortable, overt and asking for attention. The witches were humble and patient. One, in particular, was nervous when she saw them, and began to pack her things quickly. Another thing— real witches would know exactly who they were. </p><p>“Good afternoon,” said Klaus as they walked up to the woman. “Time for one more?”</p><p>She looked away. “I have nothing to say to you.”</p><p>“Oh, now that’s not very amiable, is it?” he said, pretending to be offended. “You don’t even know us.”</p><p>“I know what you are,” said the woman. “Half-vampire, half-beast. You’re the hybrid.”</p><p>Klaus smiled smugly. “I'm the Original hybrid, actually, but that's a long story for another time. If you fear me, however, you should probably be more concerned about my little sister here. She’s psychotic and she’s more impatient than me.”</p><p>Hilda shoved Klaus aside. “Ignore him, love,” she told the witch, bowing her head respectfully to her. “<em>C’est un honneur. J’ai raté le quartier français</em>.”</p><p>The witch nodded back. “Hilda Mikaelson, I presume,” she murmured. “We’ve heard all about you. You and your brother were friendly with the older witches here.”</p><p>Hilda nodded. “We’re looking for someone. A witch. Perhaps you might be able to help us find her. Jane-Anne Deveraux.”</p><p>The woman obviously recognized the name. “Sorry, I don’t know her,” she lied.</p><p>Klaus leaned forward. “Well, now that’s a fib, isn’t it?”</p><p>Hilda kicked him. “Piss off,” she snapped. “Look, we’re not trying to hurt her. We just want information.”</p><p>She shook her head. “Witches don't talk outta school in the Quarter. The vampire won't allow it. Those are the rules. I don't break Marcel's rules.”</p><p>The two Originals immediately tensed. “Marcel’s rules?” said Klaus lowly. “And where do you suppose we might find Marcel?”</p><p>The witch gulped. “Don’t say I told you. He frequents the bar. Across the street from Rousseau's.”</p><p>“Thank you, darling, this has been enlightening,” said Hilda, dragging her brother along with her.</p><p>“Your horrid temper is showing,” he said in a sing-song voice.</p><p>“You know I don’t like to torture witches when all we need is information. Did you hear her heartbeat?”</p><p>“I wasn’t paying attention to that. More like how her eyes darted everywhere.”</p><p>“That, too. It picked up the pace when she spoke of Marcel. They’re afraid of him. Which brings the question, brother, how is he even alive?”</p><p>“You ask me as though I have the answer right at the tip of my tongue already. I have no bloody idea. Last we knew in 1914, he was dead. We ran. We didn’t dare come back before because we had no idea what we would find.”</p><p>Hilda crossed her arms. “Well, I suspect I’m the last person he’ll want to see.”</p><p>“If it’s really Marcel, you needn’t worry about how he’ll act with you. I’d be more concerned about how he’ll react to seeing my face.”</p><p>They found Marcel midway through singing karaoke. There were several vampires inside of the crowded bar. Hilda and Klaus slowly inched forward. It was most definitely Marcel, down to every last detail of his face and hair. He hadn’t aged a bit, which was expected since he was a vampire. </p><p>They watched him finish his song, thank the crowd, and jump off the stage. He clapped the hands of a few of his companions, who handed him a drink. But he sensed them within seconds, and turned to face them.</p><p>“Klaus,” said Marcel, causing his companions to grow tense. </p><p>“Marcel,” Klaus replied.</p><p>“Must be a hundred years since that nasty business with your papa,” said the younger vampire.</p><p>“Has it been that long?” asked the hybrid.</p><p>The two began to approach each other. Behind Marcel, his few friends shifted on the balls of their feet, anticipating a fight. Hilda stepped protectively beside her brother. </p><p>“The way I recall it,” Marcel continued, “he ran you outta town. Left a trail of dead vampires in his wake.”</p><p>“And yet how fortunate you managed to survive,” said Klaus, a bit more aggressively. “My father, I’m afraid, I recently incinerated to dust.”</p><p>Instantly, more than half of the restaurant stood up, as if ready to defend Marcel. Hilda was unfazed. In her current state, and with Klaus beside her, they could easily kill the lost of them and only get a few scrapes. </p><p>Marcel pursed his lips. “Well, if I’d have known you were coming back in town, if I had a heads up—”</p><p>“What, Marcel? What would you have done?”</p><p>Klaus and Marcel were nose to nose. The vampires waited for any sort of signal to attack.</p><p>“I’d have thrown you a damn parade,” replied the younger vampire, smiling wide before hugging Klaus. The hybrid returned the gesture, and Hilda was a bit surprised, but it seemed to be a good sign.</p><p>“Niklaus Mikaelson,” said Marcel, his hands on Klaus’s neck. “My mentor. My savior. My sire. Let’s get you a drink.” He released him and turned to Hilda. “And wow, you’re accompanied by the mean sister. To what do I owe the honor of being in the presence of Hellish Hilda Mikaelson? Where’s your twin?”</p><p>Klaus answered for her. “He’s dead, so I suggest you don’t test her. You’ll incite one of her nasty little tantrums and then, where will we be?”</p><p>Marcel respectfully stepped back. “That explains the sudden dropping of vampires we heard about all over the world. So Finn and Kol are dead.”</p><p>“And I’d prefer we don’t talk about that,” said Hilda sourly. One of Marcel’s men took a step, and she held her hand out. “Don’t try anything. I’ll be taking a bite out of your heart before you can even blink.”</p><p>“Sit, sister, play nicely,” said Klaus, tugging her toward a smaller private table off to the side. It seemed Marcel’s most trusted companions were allowed to follow them. Marcel poured the two Originals and himself some drinks.</p><p>“It is good to see you,” said Marcel, mostly to Klaus. Probably entirely to Klaus.</p><p>“It’s good to be home,” said Klaus. “Although, please tell me the current state of Bourbon Street is not your doing.”</p><p>Marcel chuckled. “Something's gotta draw in the out-of-towners, otherwise we'd all go hungry.” </p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes and looked around at the vampires watching them. “I see they’ve all got their nice little rings. Daywalkers.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, I shared the secret of your daylight ring with a few buddies,” he said. “Just the inner circle, though— the family. After all, you and your brother taught a witch to make it in the 1910s. I got a hold of it.”</p><p>“Tell me,” she said, “how <em>did</em> you find a current witch willing to make daylight rings? They all seem scared shitless outside.”</p><p>He seemed proud. “I got the witches around here wrapped around my finger.”</p><p>Klaus smirked. “Is that so? I'm looking for a witch by the name of Jane-Anne Deveraux. Has some business with me.”</p><p>Marcel looked around at the daywalkers. “You’re looking for Jane-Anne? You probably oughta come with me.” He stood and laughed. “Ha-ha, showtime! Feel free to stay behind, Hilda. We’ll have a party taking place soon and if I remember correctly, you and your brother loved to party.”</p><p>Her eyes flashed darkly, and within an instant, her hand was around his throat. “Are you mocking me?” she snarled as his vampires made to attack her. “After all, your precious Rebekah was the one that ratted me out, and the two of you were smirking oh-so-smugly when Kol and I were last daggered.”</p><p>He held his hands up as she released him. “Didn’t mean that,” he said, still smiling as though nothing was wrong. “Simply meant you two loved to have a good time. Drinking and dancing. Don’t think I don’t remember you shoving yourself between witches and grinding like you had no morals.”</p><p>She shot him a cheeky grin. “I don’t have morals, Marcel. Now, take us to the witch.”</p><p>New Orleans had changed more than Hilda thought. The sky had already darkened as they made their way outside, and a larger crowd was forming. Vampires leapt across rooftops, jumping down and setting off car alarms. They seemed to be having the time of their life.</p><p>Hilda didn’t trust Marcel. He chatted with Klaus all too casually, swinging a branch in his hands, and though Klaus obviously related and didn’t mind their conversation, the younger Original didn’t think his intentions were in any way pure. Perhaps she was biased because she wasn’t very good with kids, and she and Marcel hadn’t had the best relationship. She was loads better to him than Kol had ever been, but all the same, Marcel had helped Klaus take the paragon diamond away from the twins, meaning they were unable to make the dagger to put down their hybrid brother. </p><p>Marcel whistled, and Hilda watched as a vampire brought up a brunette witch who looked terrified. Her wrists were bound with rope as she was shoved in front of Marcel.</p><p>“Jane-Anne Deveraux!” said Marcel, extending his hands. “Give it up for Jane-Anne! Come on, let’s hear it!”</p><p>The vampires cheered obediently. It seemed too dramatic for Hilda’s tastes.</p><p>“Jane-Anne Deveraux,” Marcel repeated, “you have been accused of the practice of witchcraft beyond the bounds of the rules set forth, and enforced, by me. How do you plead?” He walked over to Klaus and Hilda. “Was that convincing? I studied law back in the fifties.”</p><p>Hilda was about to tell him that she had the urge to bash his face in, but instead, he told the Originals to ‘hold that thought’ before turning back to the witch. “Seriously Jane, tick-tock. You know the drill. How do you plead?”</p><p>“I didn’t do anything,” said Jane-Anne desperately, causing the crowd to laugh.</p><p>Marcel was obviously pleased with her denial. “Mm, that's a lie. You know it, I know it, and you <em>hate</em> that I know it. It drives you witches crazy that I'm aware of your every move. That you can't do magic in this town without getting caught. So, why don't we just cut to the chase, huh? You tell me what magic you're brewing. I mean, tell me. I'll grant you leniency. Hey, I am, after all, a merciful man.”</p><p>There was now silence as they awaited her response. Jane-Anne scoffed, looking disgusted with Marcel. “Rot in hell, monster!”</p><p>The crowd seemed concerned with what Marcel would do next. He simply smiled. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you one more chance…” he turned away, then suddenly, whirled back, slamming the branch he’d been holding into Jane-Anne’s neck. She gagged as blood began to spill out of her. “Or not.”</p><p>She dropped to the ground and the crowd began to cheer. Hilda was immediately enraged, and to her surprise, even Klaus seemed livid. “What was that?” he snapped to Marcel.</p><p>“Hey, come walk with me,” he said, putting his arms around the two Originals. “The witches aren’t allowed to do magic here— she broke the rules.”</p><p>“I told you I wanted to talk to her,” Klaus muttered in a hard voice.</p><p>“Hey, I’m sorry. I got caught up in the show. Those witches, they think that they still have power in this town. I have to show them that they don't. I never waste an opportunity for a show of force, another lesson that I learned from you. And besides, anything that you could've gotten outta her, I can find out for you, and I will. I promise.”</p><p>Hilda was obviously still displeased, but Klaus feigned as though all was well. “Well, whatever it was, doesn't matter anymore, does it?” From behind Marcel, he pinched Hilda’s arm hard, warning her not to make a move.</p><p>“Good, good,” said Marcel, releasing them and causing Hilda to glare at Klaus. “Then let's eat, 'cause all that spilled blood makes me hungry, ha-ha!”</p><p>Marcel walked off and Klaus followed. Hilda hung back and grabbed one of Marcel’s men. “Thierry, isn’t it?” she said, gripping his arm tightly so he couldn’t get away. “I have a question for you. Any more Deveraux witches where she came from?”</p><p>Thierry was not pleased with her grabbing onto him, but he didn’t have a choice. “One,” he muttered. “A sister, Sophie. Works at Rousseau’s.”</p><p>“Absolutely wonderful,” said Hilda, letting him go and plucking the flat cap off his head. “Now, anything else that’s interesting that you want to tell me? I think I’d very much like to know some handy details.”</p><p>He snatched the cap back. “We know all about you, Hilda Mikaelson. You're not to be trusted.”</p><p>“Aw, did poor little Marcel make you all feel afraid of me,” she said, pretending to pout. “Maybe you were right to be warned.”</p><p>He rolled his eyes and walked past her. Hilda smirked, feeling the urge to cause some trouble.</p><p>“Sophie Deveraux,” she whispered in Klaus’s ear once they arrived at what used to be the Mikaelson Compound. Now, it was the location of a recurring party for the vampires of the city. “Works at Rousseau’s.”</p><p>Klaus smirked. “Have I ever told you how resourceful you are? Keep them occupied, little sister. Cause a scene. It’s your specialty.”</p><p>“I’ll be a lot bloody calmer than that, but of course,” she said, winking and going to find Thierry. He was standing with one of the other vampires, who seemed to be named Jason. “Dance with me, gorgeous.”</p><p>“What do you want?” he said, crossing his arms.</p><p>“A girl can’t want a dance?” she said, batting her eyelashes.</p><p>Jason snorted. “We’re not stupid. We know your sister is the one that flirts. Not you. You’re the maniac that kills on sight. Never turned anyone because she prefers to see dead bodies staying dead instead of walking upright within a few hours.”</p><p>Hilda smirked. “So, I like blood. Is that a problem?” She reached back into the crowd for one of the few humans lingering around. She brushed the girl’s hair aside and bit into her neck, beginning to feed. The two vampires watched as she lifted her head, blood dripping down her mouth. “Join me. It’ll be fun. Prior to contrary belief, I’m not a bore.”</p><p>They, of course, weren’t too inclined to say no once they could smell the blood dripping over the poor girl’s neck. They each seized one of her wrists as Hilda dug her fangs back into the woman’s throat. Humming, she caressed the girl’s hair to soothe her as she fed. </p><p>“I don’t know how some vampires can do it,” sighed Hilda, wiping her mouth as Jason fed the girl some blood to heal her up. “Drinking from tiny cold plastic bags instead of the full-sized bodies that’ll replenish their own blood.”</p><p>“I don’t think you’d survive more than a day drinking from a blood bag,” said Thierry as Hilda pulled the two into the middle to dance. </p><p>“No, I wouldn’t,” she said, pressing herself up against the both of them and beginning to dance. By then, they were completely hooked. It was so easy to keep them distracted. From the looks of it, they were some of those closest to Marcel, and they would be too occupied with her to focus on Klaus.</p><p>Even when her brother arrived, there was no way they would pay any heed to him. By then, she had them holding her hips as she danced, and she’d locked lips with Thierry. It wasn’t until much later once they’d fed and drank quite a bit that there was a commotion they couldn’t ignore.</p><p>“Your town?” they heard Klaus saying. Hilda disconnected from the vampire in front of her and turned as Marcel replied, “Damn straight.”</p><p>“That’s funny,” said Klaus loudly. “Because when I left a hundred years ago, you were just a pathetic little scrapper still trembling from the lashes of the whips of those who would keep you down, and now look at you. Master of your domain. Prince of the city.” The music came to a stop. “I’d like to know how.”</p><p>“Why?” demanded Marcel. “Jealous? Hey, man, I get it. Three hundred years ago, you helped build a backwater penal colony into something. You started it, but then you left. Actually— you ran from it. I saw it through. Look around. Vampires rule this city now. We don't have to live in the shadows like rats. The locals know their place. They look the other way. I got rid of the werewolves. I even found a way to shut down the witches. The blood never stops flowing and the party never ends. You wanna pass on through? You wanna stay a while? Great. What's mine is yours, but it is <em>mine.</em>My home, my family, my rules.”</p><p>“And if someone breaks those rules?” asked Klaus. Thierry and Benjamin moved forward to stand beside Diego, one of the other vampires that was very loyal to Marcel. Hilda followed suit. </p><p>“They die,” said Marcel. “Mercy is for the weak. You taught me that, too. And I'm not the prince of the Quarter, friend.” He began to shout. “I’m the king! Show me some respect.”</p><p>Klaus gritted his teeth and suddenly launched at Thierry, biting viciously into his neck and making the crowd gasp. “Nik!” Hilda snapped, appalled. </p><p>Klaus ignored her and spoke directly to Marcel. “Your friend will be dead by the weekend, which means I've broken one of your rules. And yet I cannot be killed. I <em>am</em> immortal. Who has the power now, friend?”</p><p>He left with a smirk on his face, and Hilda followed. “What the hell was that about?”</p><p>“Ask Elijah,” snarled Klaus. “Go occupy yourself elsewhere, I’ve no desire to speak with you.”</p><p>He sped off and she glared in the direction he’d disappeared to.</p><p>She did, in fact, occupy herself. She walked around the Quarter aimlessly. She texted Elijah asking him to meet her whenever he could. She tried to breathe steadily, though on the inside, she felt a storm brewing. She wasn’t sure why she felt so mad, but everything just infuriated her about the situation. This wasn’t the New Orleans she loved. Marcel was turning it into a dictatorship, it seemed. She didn’t get to have any fun because something always ruined it.</p><p>And most of all, she missed Kol. He should have been there with her.</p><p>“Sister.”</p><p>She turned to see Elijah. “Hey,” she mumbled. “What the hell’s happening here, Elijah? What don’t I know?”</p><p>“Shall I explain on the flight back to Mystic Falls? I must speak with our sister.”</p><p>The situation was something Hilda had not expected. As it turned out, Hayley, the werewolf Klaus had had a one night stand with, was now pregnant with his child. The witches had linked her to Sophie Deveraux and wished to take down Marcel, having Klaus infiltrate Marcel’s inner circle. It seemed that by the time Elijah had gotten to Hilda, he’d spoken to Klaus, who had decided that he did want to be involved in the life of the child, despite having not initially been inclined toward embracing the prospect of fatherhood.</p><p>“That’s insane,” mumbled the Original when her elder brother finished speaking. “That… shouldn’t even be possible. There are so many questions about technicalities that I want to ask but honestly… it’s not worth it if we don’t know the answers.”</p><p>Elijah sighed. “I’m as confused as you are. If you wish to aid us in this, we will welcome you. I do not think Rebekah will want to, and I will respect the decision that you both take. I just need you to know that our brother needs us. This might be his path to redemption.”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “I think… I want to stay behind in Mystic Falls, just for a little bit. I’ll see what Rebekah does. I promise, when I’m ready, I will join you. But right now, I still need to learn to live happily without Kol at my side.”</p><p>“Of course. We will always be here to support you, you know? There isn’t a need for you to isolate yourself.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled. “Thanks, Elijah.”</p><p>There was the always. But there never seemed to be a forever.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Rebekah was thrilled that Hilda was staying behind with her.</strong>
</p><p>“Just us girls, then!” she said happily, getting up the next morning with a peppy attitude. “No judgemental Elijah and no obnoxious Nik! Still can’t imagine how that poor girl is going to feel knowing that he’s the father of her child.”</p><p>Hilda smirked. “I feel badly for her. She must be pretty, though. I bet their child will be very good looking.”</p><p>“Yes, us Mikaelsons are gifted with good looks,” said Rebekah. “Now, join me for drinks?”</p><p>“Are you still trying to chat up that human boy?”</p><p>“Perhaps. What’s it to you?”</p><p>She shrugged. “Nothing at all, just asking. I was tuned out for weeks, I don’t know what happened while I was gone.”</p><p>“You didn’t miss much. Matt and I haven’t made the greatest progress but I think he fancies me, even just a little bit.”</p><p>“Good for you, Bex. Now, where are we off to? Mystic Grill?”</p><p>It was strange for Hilda to accompany Rebekah like this. They could be so casual when they weren’t at each other’s jokes. They drank. Teased each other. When Matt came, Hilda smirked and did her best to not embarrass her baby sister in front of him. When she left to deliver some food for him, she suggested she try to stay at the Salvatore Boarding House and have a longer conversation with him. It seemed Rebekah had taken that advice, which was a bit surprising, but it made Hilda happy, and it helped her start to heal in a healthier way.</p><p>She still fed, of course, it would have been very hard not to. She went to college parties at the nearby Whitmore just to feel something. She worked out and tried to get as strong as she could for her own protection. She began to take a bit of vervain every day to be more resistant. She talked with her sister. Now that she had cried her eyes out and grieved in a reckless way, Hilda was realizing that there would, eventually, be a way for her to feel more at peace with what had happened. Though they didn’t always get along, Rebekah was the only sister that Hilda had, and she was a good outlet for any words that needed to be said. It was very slow progress either way— she still curled up at night holding something of Kol’s, whether it was a shirt or a notebook. For Hilda, it felt like there would always be a profound emptiness in her soul. </p><p>The weeks went on and the two sisters remained in Mystic Falls. Rebekah was tutoring Matt to help him catch up on his assignments in time for him and his friends to graduate from high school.</p><p>The day before the teenagers were set to graduate, Hilda had accompanied them at the Grill to drink. It felt as though she was hanging out with a bunch of young children, and honestly, she was very bored, but she tried to keep her complaints silent and drowned herself in drinks instead. She was still accustomed to having Kol at her side to share criticisms with.</p><p>There was a terrible howling wind outside. It was strange, given that it wasn’t currently the season for hurricane-like storms to be anywhere near them. The lights went out as Hilda was getting ready to down another drink, and she groaned, turning on the light of her phone and walking out. Objects were breaking and clattering into the street. Matt, Caroline, and Rebekah followed her out.</p><p>“The power’s completely out,” shouted Rebekah, seeing there was no light anywhere in town.</p><p>Caroline raised her phone to her ear. “I’ll call my mom!” she shouted back. “Maybe she knows what’s going on.” A police cruiser drove by, its sirens sounding as people moved onto the streets, trying to get home.</p><p>“I’m going back inside to light some candles,” said Rebekah. Matt followed her and Caroline sped off. Not wanting to go back, Hilda flopped down onto one of the chairs outside, putting her legs up on one of the tables. She started to play some games on her phone, humming to herself.</p><p>Then, the wind suddenly stopped. She sat up slowly, looking around skeptically. That was most definitely not normal. She stood and tucked her phone away, stepping toward the street to check if there were any cars coming their way. </p><p>Someone grabbed her from behind and she whirled around to punch them, swiping her leg out to send them onto the ground. </p><p>Kol coughed and looked up at her. “Well, sister, I wasn’t expecting that kind of greeting.”</p><p>Hilda let out a hoarse gasp and jumped back, covering her mouth. “Kol! What the—”</p><p>He sped up and smiled at her. “Hello, Hilly. It’s good to see you again.”</p><p>She pulled him into a tight hug. “How are you here, Kol?”</p><p>“The veil to the Other Side’s been dropped within the triangle formed by the three Silas massacres.”</p><p>“The Expression Triangle? What? But— oh. I did hear that Bennett witch was up to something. I thought she couldn’t do it until tomorrow— the full moon.”</p><p>“Apparently not. All she needed was Silas’s tombstone with the calcified blood of her ancestor Qetsiyah.” He picked her up and spun her around. “Now, sister, are you ready to wreak havoc on the city?”</p><p>“Kol?” </p><p>They turned to see Rebekah and Matt outside, looking shocked. Kol smirked and walked past them into the bar once he set Hilda down. “Greetings from the dead. Who fancies a drink?”</p><p>Rebekah was gaping at him. “I thought I’d never see you again.”</p><p>Kol scoffed as he poured himself some scotch. “Spare me the waterworks, sister. I’ve already watched you grieve. It lasted a full twenty-four hours, remember? Meanwhile, I’ve been watching weeks worth of Hilly’s sobs.”</p><p>Matt cleared his throat. “Well, I’m assuming this means that Bonnie dropped the veil.”</p><p>“Not completely, and not for long,” said Kol. “But who am I to give up an opportunity for revenge? My killer's already dead, but his sister's just as culpable, so maybe you could help me find her.”</p><p>Matt tensed. “If you hurt Elena, I swear—”</p><p>Kol smashed the glass bottle onto the table and held the broken piece up. “Oh, I’m going to,” said Kol. “But please, continue. I'm curious as to where you're going with this.”</p><p>“You’ve made your point, Kol!” snapped Rebekah as he walked over to Hilda, who was still in the doorway. “Leave.”</p><p>“First, tell me where Hilly and I can find Elena,” he demanded.</p><p>“She left here hours ago, we don’t know where she is!” said Rebekah. “Now get out!”</p><p>Kol cast her a cruel smirk. “I see you finally got the quarterback to pay attention to you. How's the throwing arm, champ?” He threw the broken bottle right into Matt’s shoulder, causing the blond to groan in pain. Kol walked to Hilda, grabbing her arm and leading her out.</p><p>“Are you still up for an adventure or are you not?” he inquired.</p><p>“Of course I am,” she said honestly. “But if this isn’t going to last long, do we really need to waste time with that wretched girl? I’d rather we do something fun. Something worthwhile.”</p><p>He shook his head. “I want her dead, Hilly. Once she’s gone, we can have all the fun we want.”</p><p>Hilda sighed. “Alright. Well, she’s not doing so well. Her humanity was off… they forced her to turn it back on… she’s acting like everything is fine when it isn’t… she’s still grieving her brother. She left earlier looking annoyed so I think we ought to check the cemetery. She knew the veil was being dropped. Chances are, she’s betting on seeing him.”</p><p>“Smart as ever, big sister.” He grabbed her arm and sped them to the cemetery where they, in fact, found Elena kneeling before Jeremy’s grave. She was crying and speaking to him, and Hilda felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of her and Kol ruining her private time with her brother. After all, Hilda could see and practically feel how much pain she was in.</p><p>“I give up, Jer,” Elena cried. “I really wanted to kill her for you, but there’s no point.” She picked up the dried up flowers set on the grave. “Stefan’s right, it’s just a distraction, and…” she threw the flowers onto the floor and covered her face. “I can’t— I can’t do this. I can’t— I can’t move on.  And I don't want to. If that makes me weak, then fine, I'm weak, but...I can't handle you— I can't handle you being gone. I can't handle feeling like this anymore.”</p><p>Hilda was too late to stop Kol. He stepped up to Elena. “Hello, old friend.”</p><p>She whirled around and saw him. “Pity about your brother,” said Kol. “Guess it’s just me and Hilly against you now.”</p><p>He lunged at her. Elena stood no chance, even though Kol had been the only one that launched himself at her. Hilda watched, frozen in place, as he began to beat into the younger vampire. He slammed her into the ground and kicked her about, causing her to cough and bleed. He didn’t seem to even notice that Hilda wasn’t contributing. She gripped onto the trunk of a tree for support, and she couldn’t look away.</p><p>“Now this is what I’ve missed,” Kol said as he kicked Elena in the stomach. “Two people connecting. It’s  lonely on the Other Side… and I swear being invisible will drive you mad. The way you couldn't see me standing in front of you, or feel my breath on your cheek as I whispered all the ways that I wished for you to suffer. At least, you got to feel a fraction of the pain that Hilly felt when you brother killed me. Now, you’ll follow suit.”</p><p>He lifted her up by the throat, smirking as she gasped for breath.</p><p>“Go ahead, Kol,” Elena panted, defeated. “Kill me. You’d be doing me a favor.”</p><p>Hilda wanted to stop him. She wanted to say anything to dissuade him, but she couldn’t. She wanted to convince herself that she did want Elena dead because the alternative would mean that she was feeling pity— pity for this girl who helped to kill her twin brother. She deserved this, didn’t she?”</p><p>“As you wish, darling,” Kol whispered. He was about to plunge his hand into her heart when he dropped her, whirling around to catch a stake that’d been shot at him by Jeremy, who was holding a crossbow.</p><p>“How many times do I need to kill you?” Jeremy snapped.</p><p>“Jeremy Gilbert, welcome back,” said Kol sadistically. “Now, what’s the saying?  'Kill me once, shame on you. Kill me twice, shame on—”</p><p>Hilda gasped as Stefan sped forward and snapped her brother’s neck. “Let’s leave it at that, shall we?” </p><p>The Original jumped back, looking down at the body. Her hands shook as she turned to Elena, who was still bleeding. Stefan and Jeremy ran to her side, ensuring that she was okay. The vampire sobbed as she held onto her brother, and Hilda felt her heart beating hard within her chest.</p><p>“Well?”</p><p>She didn’t realize Stefan was staring at her. “What?” she said breathlessly.</p><p>“Well?” he repeated. “What are you doing here? Are you… okay?”</p><p>She didn’t know how to answer. “I-I don’t know,” she mumbled. She looked down at Kol. “I… I don’t know why I let that happen.” She looked down at Elena. “I’m… sorry. I didn’t want him to do that. Not really.”</p><p>Jeremy turned back to her. “I always knew you were better than him,” he said encouragingly as he pulled his sister to her feet. </p><p>Hilda gulped. “I don’t think so. I just… I saw her and I saw myself. Crying over Kol. If I wanted her to feel more pain… killing her wouldn’t be how I’d go about it.”</p><p>Stefan stepped in front of her. “I don’t want to butt in but I think you’re a bit… shocked. You should take your brother and go. Seriously, we don’t want there to be a problem. If he tries to hurt Elena again, I’m going to defend her, as will any of our friends, and vice versa if they’re attacked.”</p><p>She nodded quickly and pulled Kol up. “Yeah… sure. I’ll take him to our mansion.”</p><p>She sped away with Kol’s body and went to set him down in his room. Her hands were still shaking and she rushed to the bathroom, ripping up the toilet seat and throwing up into the bowl.</p><p>For Kol, there was only one side on the coin of madness. Whenever he flew off the handle, he was violent and didn’t feel any remorse. He didn’t regret his actions and he could be more aggressive than normal, with some added vulgar words to spice things up.</p><p>Hilda had two sides. On one end, whenever she snapped, she was practically an apex predator. Fury took over and she didn’t think, she just attacked. She didn’t care who she hurt and her dark side completely overwhelmed her. However, her emotions could take a drastic turn and leave her trembling. Feeling every last bit of guilt and pain that she’d caused. It was a side that came out much less, because she hated being vulnerable. She didn’t like to be considered ‘nice.’ She loved to be cruel because when others feared her, they couldn’t hurt her. However, tonight, she couldn’t seem to control it. She felt <em>bad</em> for Elena. She sympathized with her.</p><p>“I’m fucking turning into Rebekah,” she muttered, holding her head as she went to gargle salt water. She went to the nearest liquor cabinet and brought out a bottle of bourbon, gulping down half of it before looking at herself in the mirror across the room. She looked fine, but she certainly didn’t feel fine. </p><p>She didn’t know why she was so appalled by the idea of being seen as a good person. Perhaps it was because that was when people took advantage of her. Because whenever Rebekah acted like that, she let herself be weak and she always managed to get subdued. Hilda had Mikael’s criticisms constantly ringing in her ears. She could not let herself be weak. It was shameful.</p><p>The doorbell rang and she drew a deep breath. She set the bottle of bourbon down and walked over, throwing the door opened.</p><p>“Alaric,” she gasped, eyes widening. “Oh… oh wow…”</p><p>He smiled at her and she just about melted. “Hilda Mikaelson. I heard you’d come home.”</p><p>“You’re h-here,” she stammered, stepping back to let him in. “You… you came to see me?”</p><p>“Of course I did,” he said. “It’s not every day someone pours their heart and soul out on your grave. I heard you and Damon that night.”</p><p>Her cheeks went crimson. “Oh… you heard that?”</p><p>“I did. I hope I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable by bringing that up,” he added quickly, stepping in but not walking that much closer to her. “I um— I thought I should come to see you. It felt like the right thing to do.”</p><p>“That was sweet of you,” she murmured, clasping her hands together. “Er— come on, I have some liquor. I’m assuming Bonnie will be putting the veil back up… so you can take a bottle and go. I don’t want to keep you from your friends.”</p><p>He leaned into the doorway as she grabbed some tequila. “Hilda,” he said quietly, “I came to apologize.”</p><p>She straightened up. “For what?”</p><p>“I tortured you. I-I dumped vervain on your face. I attacked you and hurt you and you didn’t deserve that. You came to see me when I wasn’t going to complete the transition and I repaid you by bringing you pain. I’m sorry.”</p><p>She turned to face him. “Alaric, listen, I don’t hold that against you.” She walked toward him and handed him a clean glass. “It wasn’t really you. That was all my mother’s fault, so really, I should be the one apologizing.”</p><p>“I also wanted to say that I’m sorry for your loss,” he said, pouring himself some tequila. “More than once your brother and I found ourselves here, seeing you cry. I can’t say Kol and I are buddies or anything but… you were in so much pain. We wordlessly worked out a system of coming to check up on you because we thought you were going to lose it.”</p><p>Hilda looked away. “You checked up on me,” she whispered.</p><p>Alaric moved closer to her. “How could I not? You’re not a bad person. Anyone can feel pain but not everyone really deserves it. Especially not you. So… I wanted to come here and tell you that. I’m sorry.”</p><p>He set down his glass and put his hand on her cheek, turning her to face him. A look of understanding passed between them, and then, his lips were on hers.</p><p>It was softer than she had expected. She was used to roughness when it came to kisses because she only ever used it to distract herself from reality. Alaric didn’t make her feel as though she was only there for his pleasure. He pulled her closer to him without being abrasive, as if worried he’d hurt her. She was anything but fragile, and yet she felt a warm feeling in her chest knowing that he worried about her.</p><p>They didn’t disconnect. She snaked her arms around his neck and he held her waist, massaging gentle circles over her hips. They each groaned and he pulled her to the couch, pressing her down onto it and sliding one of his hands up her back.</p><p>She lost herself, at first. He moved his hands up her shirt and she didn’t object. She leaned her head back and let out a soft moan as he caressed her body, peeling her top off. She tugged at his jacket, yanking it off and tossing it across the room as their mouths collided again. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he moved her legs aside, making her whimper in surprise as he pulled her jeans off of her body. Though she did not feel cold, she shivered, and listened as he started to unbuckle his pants.</p><p>That’s when she started to feel pain. </p><p>Her chest tightened as she realized what was going to happen. She tried not to focus on it, she tried to concentrate on how he was kissing her neck and how he was massaging her inner thighs, working his way toward her underwear to pull it off.</p><p>“Stop!” she shrieked just before he could, shoving him off and turning away. She held her head and struggled to breathe, her vision blurring. She was shaking again and it hurt. Her muscles ached and it felt as though someone had slammed a hammer against her lungs. Her core burned as memories plagued her mind, threatening to make her sob.</p><p>“I’m so sorry,” he said immediately. “Holy shit— I didn’t even ask—”</p><p>She shook her head, closing her eyes tightly to calm herself. He wasn’t sure whether to try to speak to her or whether to remain silent. He chose the latter and began to dress himself again.</p><p>She was still trembling as he gently handed her her shirt. Tears were brimming in her eyes as she took it. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice cracking. “I bloody ruined it.”</p><p>“Don’t say that,” he replied without missing a beat. “You didn’t ruin anything. I should have asked for permission, I should have checked in, I shouldn’t have moved so fast.”</p><p>She didn’t turn to face him, but her breath hitched. “You’re not mad?” </p><p>“Why would I be mad? You have every right to stop someone while they’re ahead, it’s your body. And well, either way, I’m <em>technically</em> a ghost right now, I shouldn’t have overstepped my boundaries.”</p><p>Hilda gulped and put her shirt back on. “It’s not that,” she said, turning back to look at him. “Just… memories. I trust you, but I’m… not mentally in a good place for that. I’m not kidding when I say it’s been a thousand years…”</p><p>“Hey, don’t feel bad,” Alaric said reassuringly. “You don’t need to justify it. I respect your choice. And I shouldn’t have done that. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you.”</p><p>She half-smiled as he went to quickly get her the bottle of tequila, handing it to her. “I should probably go,” he said, his cheeks red. “I don’t want to impose.”</p><p>“You don’t have to go,” she said softly. “I don’t want you to.”</p><p>There was a clattering noise, and the two tensed. Hilda watched as Kol strolled right out. He looked at Alaric like he considered skinning him. “Well, I wouldn’t want to interrupt what I’m sure is a very cozy get together.” He glared at his sister. “It’s nice to see where your loyalties lie, Hilda.”</p><p>She frowned. “Excuse me?” she snapped. “Who are you to tell me where my loyalties lie?”</p><p>"You're really becoming as idiotic as Rebekah. I suppose you had to attach yourself to someone after I died. You're set to become as stupid as the rest of them."</p><p>"Kol, I don't like what you're insinuating. You know that it's not like that."</p><p>He rolled his eyes. “You’ve grown softer than I thought you would, Hilly,” he muttered coldly before speeding away.</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda was livid.</strong>
</p><p>Alaric watched her let out a string of curse words as she put her pants back on. Some things he understood, others appeared to be in languages he didn’t speak.</p><p>“Bloody fucking prick,” she snapped when Kol ignored her third phone call. She faced Alaric. “I’m going to go find him. You should probably go and tell the others.” She drew a deep breath. “I’m going to be honest, I don’t give a damn about them but realistically, if you want to warn them, you can and you should, I won’t stop you. I don’t know what he’s planning.”</p><p>Alaric nodded. “Yeah, of course. Thank you.”</p><p>“Don’t thank me until I make sure my brother is going to do something stupid. I just… that’s not what I expected to hear.”</p><p>“Death changes people, Hilda. I don’t think he meant it. He’s hungry for revenge. If… if you need help, please let me know, okay?”</p><p>She half-smiled. “Alright. You should… you should probably go. He might have headed straight for the Salvatore Boarding House.”</p><p>He followed her to the door. “Will I be seeing you after this?” he asked quietly.</p><p>“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I don’t know when the veil will go back up or what will happen when I find Kol. He’s furious.”</p><p>Alaric frowned. “Furious enough… to hurt you? Because if that’s the case, I don’t feel good leaving you alone.”</p><p>“Don’t worry. I can hold my own against all of my siblings. He won’t be able to subdue me even if he tries, unless he somehow has some White Oak laying around.”</p><p>“You’re sure?” he asked. “I don’t mind going to look with you, Hilda.”</p><p>She shook her head. “It’s fine, Alaric, I promise.” </p><p>“Alright. Just so you know, Silas has been subdued, so you should be safe out there.”</p><p>“What happened? How did you manage to subdue him?”</p><p>“Bonnie turned him to stone. Damon’s planning on tossing the body over the waterfall in the forest— not sure if he’s done it yet.”</p><p>She offered him a small smile. “Thanks for the information,” she said before speeding out. </p><p>It took her hours to find Kol. No matter where she looked, there were no traces of him. She didn’t think he could spontaneously become invisible, but it felt like he might have done exactly that. </p><p>More than once she ran into dead supernaturals who were out for blood. Or, perhaps, some of them weren’t dead, but she’d certainly killed them to get past them. The sun was coming up when she caught sight of several of them making their way to Mystic Falls High School, where chairs and a stage were set up for the graduation in the stadium. </p><p>Kol was on the stage, pacing as he awaited their arrival. She snuck in with a group of them as he tapped the microphone. “Welcome back,” he said. “It was our deaths that allowed this day to come to pass— massacres performed in the name of resurrecting the immortal, Silas. Twelve hybrids, twelve witches, the slaughter of innocents by the so-called hero protectors of Mystic Falls. They risked unleashing hell on earth for their own selfish gains. And today that's exactly what they're going to get. At the graduation today, we will sit between the students. Act casual. Compel them to not notice you. I will signal for you to take any action.”</p><p>They dispersed again and Hilda walked up to her brother, who raised his eyebrows. “Well, I admit I’m surprised to see you.”</p><p>“What’s your problem?” she snapped. “You’re being such a dick.”</p><p>“They knocked me out. You brought me home and when I wake up, I see you nearly in throes with one of <em>them</em>?”</p><p>“Don’t act like I’m fraternizing with the enemy. There’s nothing wrong with it.”</p><p>“What’ve you come to, Hilly? You’ve changed.”</p><p>“So have you. We don’t have much time together and here you are planning chaos instead of spending time doing something worthwhile.”</p><p>He held out his arms. “This is worthwhile. We’re going to wreak havoc and stop them from putting the veil back up. You claimed that you would help bring me back. This is a win-win for you, Hilda. If you help, you get me back and you get Alaric back.”</p><p>She made a face. “Kol, I got attacked several times trying to get here. I’d do it for you and Alaric but not the others.”</p><p>“Help me, sister,” he insisted. “I’ve seen how much it hurt you to lose me. You can help me stay here if you just agree.”</p><p>Hilda sighed. “As long as you apologize for what you said.”</p><p>Kol looked away. “I didn’t mean it and you know it.”</p><p>“Then why did you say it?”</p><p>“Maybe because I expected you’d be at my side when I woke up.”</p><p>“I planned to be, but then Alaric showed up. I didn’t think you’d wake so soon.”</p><p>His lip twitched and Hilda narrowed her eyes. “Who have you been talking to on the other side?” she demanded.</p><p>“What makes you think I’ve talked to anyone?” he said. “I want to be alive again, Hilly. Is that such a bad thing?”</p><p>“You’re… you’re acting like Mikael.”</p><p>Kol gritted his teeth. “I saw him once. He threw me around for a bit, his usual degrading routine. Then he left. I don’t know where he is but it’s not here. He wasn’t the only one. Old enemies I’d forgotten… they were there. Every day a new one seems to come to try and settle a score. I had to constantly move around and hide. It’s ridiculous. All I wanted to do was see you. Our other siblings seem to have forgotten that I used to exist.”</p><p>“You got jealous,” Hilda deduced. “You thought I was just like them, but I’m <em>not</em>. I love you, Kol, you’re the only one that’s consistently been there for me. And I will help you but not if you’re going to treat me like a bloody pile of crap when I’m not at fault here.”</p><p>Kol nodded. “I’m sorry, Hilly,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have said any of it.”</p><p>“Thank you. Now, what do you have in mind to stop the veil from going back up?”</p><p>“I’m taking care of Bonnie Bennett. I hear they’ve taken down Silas for now so I’d very much like it if we could retrieve him so that we can be in control of what happens to him.”</p><p>“Good plan. Alaric told me Damon’s planning on dumping the body over the waterfall, so I should probably check the Salvatore Boarding House first to see if he’s there. If his car’s gone, he’s mostly likely dumped the body and I’ll have to take a dive… shouldn’t be too bad, it’s not like we can drown.”</p><p>She sped off again. At the Salvatore Boarding House, she found that Damon’s car was, in fact, not parked in the driveway. She didn’t hear Alaric’s voice inside, but she could pick up a distinct conversation between Stefan and an unfamiliar voice. Deciding that it would be a waste of time to check, she made her way into the forest, listening closely for Damon. She approached the roaring waterfall and found that he was not alone— a light-haired man with a Scottish accent was beside him, staring down at the edge of the cliff and pointing a gun at Damon, who seemed to be in pain.</p><p>“What’s wrong, laddie?” asked Damon in a faux Scottish accent as Hilda crept forward. “Can’t swim?”</p><p>The man turned to Damon. “The hell happened to you?”</p><p>Damon looked down, and Hilda noticed there seemed to be a large bruise on his neck, as though made by poison. “Oh, well, would you look at that. That is nasty.”</p><p>The Scottish man began to laugh. “Connor…” he looked at his gun. “He must’ve laced these bullets with werewolf venom.”</p><p>“Ding-ding-ding,” said Damon. “Not as dumb as you sound.”</p><p>Hilda managed to jump right in front of the vampire as the Scottish man fired a shot. She caught the bullet before it could pierce Damon’s leg. “Well, isn’t this a nice little Boy Scout Trip?” she said. “What could you possibly be looking for, boys?”</p><p>“Oh, goodie, the Bitchy Original Barbie is here,” muttered Damon.</p><p>“I could have let that bullet pierce you,” she said snarkily, looking back at Damon through her peripheral vision. “You’ve got enough venom—”</p><p>The Scottish man fired two quick rounds right into her chest, near her heart. She cried out in pain and sank to her knees as he pointed the gun at her head. “Not bloody likely, lassie,” he said. “An Original on her way to find Silas, I presume? Won’t let it happen. The Hunter Alexander’s keeping your sister company, he is, making sure none of you mess our plan up.”</p><p>“W-What?” she gasped, catching sight of a familiar looking vial of red on the man’s neck. </p><p>He raised his gun to shoot Damon on his other arm, making him collapse beside Hilda. “This was all a lie, eh? You knew you were a dead man. Well, you won't get the cure back. Where'd you put Silas?”</p><p>Damon laughed softly, almost taunting the man. Suddenly, something shot past them. Hilda looked up in surprise as Alaric snapped the man’s neck and threw him into the quarry. “Oops,” said the newer Original, offering his hands to help Damon and Hilda to their feet.</p><p>“One slight problem,” said Damon weakly as Alaric pulled them up.</p><p>“You mean this?” said Alaric, holding up the cure as he slipped his hand around Hilda’s waist. She was wheezing and barely able to stand on her own.</p><p>“Yes, yes that,” said Damon, limping over to a nearby log and sitting onto it. “What… brings you here, Miss Hilly Billy?”</p><p>“Silas,” she gasped, wincing as Alaric set her down. She looked over at Damon. “Need… to call Klaus… for that.”</p><p>“Be my guest,” said Damon. Alaric held out the cure. “You could also take this, and it will heal you.”</p><p>Damon shook his head. “Nope… that’s for Elena.”</p><p>“Don’t be stupid. She didn’t want it. Hilda will survive the poison but you won’t. Take the cure.”</p><p>Damon refused. “Not happening. I’ll wait.”</p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes and extracted her phone, holding her chest with her other hand to limit any discomfort. She dialed Klaus’s number and he didn’t answer. “What could you possibly be doing to ignore a call from me?” she whispered in as rude of a voice as she could. “Get to Mystic Falls, dickwad.” She dialed his number again and once more, he didn’t answer. “Seriously, Niklaus? Call me back.”</p><p>Alaric let out a small laugh and kneeled in front of her. “Are you okay? I know this won’t kill you but you’re all pale.”</p><p>“I’m alright,” she murmured, half-smiling as she sank down to the ground, her back resting on the log. </p><p>“Thank you, Ric, I’m doing really well,” said Damon loudly as he imitated her movements. </p><p>Alaric made a face. “You could be healed and you’re choosing not to be.”</p><p>“Just say you’re focusing on your girlfriend, I won’t get offended.”</p><p>Hilda blushed as Alaric glared at Damon. “Maybe I should just let you die,” he said playfully. “Idiot.”</p><p>Damon smirked. “Aw, did I hit a nerve?” He made a kissy face. “I heard all about the smooching…”</p><p>“Damon!” Alaric said sharply.</p><p>“Oh, was I not supposed to know?” said the vampire with a cheeky grin. For someone infected with werewolf poison, he was having too good of a time. “<em>Oops</em>.”</p><p>Hilda just waved her hand dismissively as Alaric looked apologetically at her. “Honestly,” she whispered, “you had a right… to tell somebody… since my brother saw… we’re even.”</p><p>Damon gaped at them. “No way, Ric, you let her <em>brother</em> catch you? How aren’t you dead? Oh wait—”</p><p>Alaric rolled his eyes. “Take the cure now or you’ll be dead along with me.”</p><p>He looked away. “I already said no.”</p><p>Alaric took out his phone and dialed Stefan’s number. “Your idiotic brother is refusing to take the cure,” he said. “We’re stuck by the waterfall.”</p><p>“What?” said Stefan. “Bring him over here.”</p><p>“Can’t,” coughed Damon into the phone. “Ric’s girlfriend is here.”</p><p>“Huh? Since when does Ric have a girlfriend?”</p><p>“I mean Hilda Mikaelson,” Damon said as Alaric snatched the phone away. “Listen, Stefan, I would love nothing more than to get out of here before Vaughn comes back to life but Hilda’s got the werewolf venom pretty near her heart and Damon won’t take the cure— he wants it for Elena.”</p><p>“Okay, just hang on a little longer. Caroline’s calling Klaus again.”</p><p>Alaric sighed. “Stefan, we are past the point of Hail Mary phone calls— Klaus didn’t answer Hilda, either. What do you want me to do, stand here and watch your brother die or force-feed him the cure?” </p><p>But Stefan didn’t answer. The call failed and Alaric made a face. “Hello? Stefan?”</p><p>Hilda started to cough, and spit out some blood. “Fuck,” she hissed, wiping her mouth and leaning back, her face beaded with sweat. “It’s gonna settle in… you should snap my neck or something so I’m not a problem.”</p><p>“Don’t say that,” Alaric said sternly. “You’re not a problem. We just have to wait for your brother to get off his ass and get here.”</p><p>Damon snorted. He looked much worse than Hilda, since the venom was actually killing him. “Klaus… getting off his ass? That’ll be the day…”</p><p>However, only a minute had passed when suddenly Klaus was right in front of them. He bit into his wrist and shoved it against Damon’s mouth. The younger vampire was surprised but he drank. Klaus bit into his other wrist before offering it to Hilda, who was too weak to get it on her own. Alaric helped her sit up and coaxed her brother’s wrist to her mouth. She drank and the color started to come back to her face. </p><p>Klaus looked down at the three with a smirk. “Well, I’m off, I’ve more important things to do.”</p><p>“With Caroline,” said Hilda under her breath as Alaric pulled her to her feet. Klaus simply sped off, and Damon groaned, cracking his back. “I’m leaving,” he said loudly. “Pretty sure Elena’s gonna yell at me.” He left the other two alone.</p><p>“Are you alright?” asked Alaric, brushing some of her hair out of her face as she reached into her own chest to pull out the two bullets. </p><p>“I’m fine,” she said. “Look, I need to be honest, I was here to get Silas because Kol asked me to. You shouldn’t be nice to me. No matter what my family does I always fall back on them. I always help them. You deserve better than that.”</p><p>He raised his eyebrows. “Why do you think that’s going to dissuade me? You talk down on yourself like I’m going to base my judgment on that alone.”</p><p>“Do you not see how terrible of a person I am?” she said. “I’m not even brave enough to… to…”</p><p>He held her cheeks and made her look up at him. “Don’t you dare say that,” he said. “You’re not weak or cowardly just because you backed out. It’s okay, I’m not mad. And I think you’re better than you think. It’s okay to be good, Hilda, you don’t have to push people away.”</p><p>“This isn’t going to work,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “The veil will likely be dropped no matter what I do. I wanted… I wanted to keep it up so that you and Kol could stay alive but that’s not natural. And I failed to get Silas. I don’t know how much time all of you have left and I failed at doing one simple bloody task that could have helped you.”</p><p>He caressed her temples with his thumbs. “Hey, it’s okay. I get it. You should spend time with your brother. However long you have.” He took her hand and started to lead her out of the forest toward town. “You have a right to be happy, and to act anyway you want. No one should hold it against you. You’re your own person and you shouldn’t feel like you have to do things for others to keep them safe or make them happy.”</p><p>“You’re too nice to me,” she mumbled, looking at the floor as she let go of his hand, tucking both of hers into the pockets of her jacket. “I didn’t deserve your kindness today or yesterday, either.”</p><p>“You deserve good things, too. Just because you’re a Mikaelson doesn’t make you an automatically terrible person. You’ve done what you’ve had to do to survive. And I can see that you are good. You just… need to find something that makes you want to do that more often so that you can see it in yourself.”</p><p>They walked the rest of the way in silence. Once they reached the road, Hilda stopped to face him. “Thank you for everything. I’m already going to keep searching for ways to bring my brother back. I can do the same for you.”</p><p>He shook his head. “You don’t have to, Hilda. Focus on your family. I’m just glad that I got to spend time with you while you could actually see me.”</p><p>She tiptoed and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips. “Until we see each other again,” she whispered.</p><p>“Until we see each other again,” he repeated, watching her speed away.</p><p>She found that Kol had been trapped at Mystic Falls High School.</p><p>“What happened to you?” he demanded. “Where have you been?”</p><p>“I got shot with werewolf venom, thank you very much,” she said. “What happened to <em>you</em>?”</p><p>“The Bennett witch got to me. She’s dead.”</p><p>She frowned. “Doesn’t that mean the veil won’t go back up?”</p><p>“Unfortunately no. She will still be able to do the spell tonight. Meaning… we haven’t got a lot of time.”</p><p>Hilda looked at him sadly. “Are you trapped in here?”</p><p>“Yep. Barrier spell.”</p><p>She sat down beside him. The twins shared a look before Kol took her hand. “At the very least,” he said quietly, “I’m tremendously glad that you’re here.”</p><p>She offered him a small smile. “And I’m glad to be here. I wish this wouldn’t have to be a goodbye.”</p><p>“I wish too, Hilly,” he murmured. “But after the spell is back up… I’ll return to being invisible. You won’t be able to see me.” He looked away. “I don’t know if it’s wrong to thank you for the way you mourn but… I appreciate that at least someone cared that I was gone. I heard every word you said. And you didn’t know, but every night, while you were hugging my urn, I was right there beside you.”</p><p>She started to tear up. “Why does it have to be like this?” she whimpered. “Why do we need to be separated? I’m going to do everything I can to bring you back, I swear it.”</p><p>He kissed her forehead. “I know you will. And if the solution comes on my end, I’ll do what I can to get back to you. I don’t want to leave you alone with them.”</p><p>She snorted. “Rebekah isn’t as bad, but Nik and Elijah… well, we’ve never really gotten along that well. I don’t know if you heard anything on the Other Side, but Nik got that werewolf girl pregnant. They’re going to have a baby.”</p><p>Kol raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t think that was true. You went back to New Orleans?”</p><p>“We did. I didn’t want to return so soon, though. Bex and I have been alright here but it’s lonely without you. I’m not accustomed to it. Usually, we’re practically reading each other’s minds. We’re having fun because we already know exactly how to have a good time. We joked and laughed and life was good. I want it to be like that again.”</p><p>“It will be, Hilly. Somehow, someway. I… I want to think that there’s more to life than what we know. I want to be able to find something worthwhile. If I get the chance to live again, I don’t want to waste it.”</p><p>She leaned her head against his. “We’ll find it. You’ll find a pretty girl and you’ll fall in love. I’ll… I don’t know, search for a way to get our magic back. If I find it, I’ll be happy.”</p><p>“You’ll marry a nice fellow,” said Kol, trying his hardest to be optimistic. “You’ll have a big house and well, no children because you don’t like those. You’ll have loads of friends and you’ll be the godmother of their offspring so that you can be the wine aunt that buys them expensive gifts and acts as a terrible influence, but is simultaneously someone they can trust.”</p><p>They tried to make the most of their time. Hands clasped together they spoke about things that hardly mattered. When the sky began to darken outside, they held on a bit tighter, and once they realized their time was really running out, they pulled each other into a hug.</p><p>“I love you, Kol,” whispered Hilda as she rubbed his back. “And I will bring you back, no matter what I have to do. We’ll get to see each other again.”</p><p>She pulled away to look into his eyes but he was already gone.</p><p>She knew he was there, just invisible, but all the same, she began to cry. She pulled her knees to her chest and dropped her head down to muffle the sound of her sobs.</p><p>In the evening she found Rebekah packing her bags.</p><p>“Where are you off to?” asked Hilda quietly.</p><p>“I’m going to travel,” said Rebekah, looking happy. “This is what I want to do, Hilly. I’m going to go and show Matt the world. Eventually… when he needs to come back, I’ll return to New Orleans. I hope I will see you there.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled. “I think I’m going to do some traveling of my own, Bex. Just… see what more I can learn about magic. When you’re ready to go back, call me, and we’ll see where we’re at. I can’t promise I’ll want to return at the same time, but I will make sure I’m there before Nik’s child is born.”</p><p>“Will you be alright?” asked Rebekah. “You’re sure you don’t maybe want to… come with us?”</p><p>She shook her head. “You have your fun, Bex, don’t worry about me. I’ll heal, eventually. It will take some time but one day, I’ll be okay. I’ll get something out of life one way or another.”</p><p>The two sisters pulled each other in for a hug. “We’re here for you, Hilly,” whispered Rebekah. “Always and forever.”</p><p>Hilda sighed, but did not nod. She couldn’t so easily believe her words.</p><p>It was too good to be true.</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda was grateful that her siblings loved to gossip.</strong>
</p><p>Even though she did not go to New Orleans for months, she knew exactly what was going on at practically every moment.</p><p>At first, she’d had only updates from Klaus, who was still learning how to embrace the prospect of fatherhood. While Rebekah had been traveling with Matt exploring the streets of Europe (and the bedrooms), Hilda had been having a quiet time on several tropic islands, enjoying long walks, acupuncture, massages, and most of all, amazing drinks. She kept a low profile and didn’t make a single phone call (this, of course, only forced Klaus to learn to text properly). Hardly anyone knew she was there and anyone who saw her was compelled. If she came across any supernaturals she felt were suspicious, she’d kill them.</p><p>When Rebekah had arrived in New Orleans, Hilda had begun getting updates nearly every hour. Rebekah, of course, didn’t hesitate to tell her sister all about Marcel and how he was alive and running the city and how he was controlling the witches. They had learned soon after that this was all due to a special little Harvest witch named Davina.</p><p>“Let’s see if I understood what you said,” Hilda spoke into the phone as she relaxed on a beach in Barbados. “Marcel has this little witch in an attic somewhere, but Rebekah can’t remember where?”</p><p>“You forgot the part where our sister got thrown out the window,” chimed in Klaus.</p><p>“Nik!” snapped Rebekah. “Yes, the brat erased my memory.”</p><p>“And the little witch has Elijah.”</p><p>“Yes,” came the new voice she’d come to know as Hayley Marshall. “Finally, someone actually cares that Elijah is missing.”</p><p>“Don’t be absurd, love, Elijah is Hilda’s least favorite sibling,” said Klaus, and Hilda could imagine he was smirking like the devil he was.</p><p>“No, you occupy that position, Nik,” replied Hilda without missing a beat. This made both Rebekah and Hayley laugh. “Let’s see… I met a small Coven here, they’ve proven friendly. I can try to ask them to do a Locator Spell on Elijah using my blood. It will be more difficult since it’s from another country but it’s worth a try. Realistically, it might be too far and even if we were in New Orleans, Davina’s magical signature could corrupt the spell. We’ll do our best.”</p><p>The Locator Spell had not gone well. The two maps of New Orleans that Hilda had acquired were rendered useless rather quickly. Davina’s magic seemed to be blocking them even from this far away.</p><p>“A bloody bust,” sighed Rebekah on their next call. “Sophie Deveraux was unable to complete her Locator Spell here in the Quarter. That witch— Katie— idiotic Nik killed her before we had the time. He says it’s good since he saved Marcel and whatnot… but it just ruined our chance. Hayley is getting antsy.”</p><p>“Poor thing. Too many hormones already and now she’s grown affections for one of our brothers while carrying the child of the other. Whatever shall we do, Bex?”</p><p>Rebekah had eventually found the place. They had updated Hilda and let her know that Davina, in fact, was an escaped Harvest girl. Once Elijah had been returned to wherever it was that the three Mikaelsons and Hayley were staying, they joined another call to speak to Hilda.</p><p>“Those witches are idiots,” sighed Hilda, leaning back on her deck chair with a pineapple smoothie on a beach in Hawaii. “I myself have seen the Harvest ritual be done in the past. It’s very real, and if they bothered to document it properly, they would be able to have the current elders understand the process much better. Kol and I helped them refine the procedure and we wrote them rules. It explicitly states that whenever the ritual is done, the girls must not see what happens to their fellow Harvest girls. Meaning they did it wrong by letting the girls watch them slit the throats of the others. They will all resurrect if you make them complete the ritual, I assure you that. In fact, it’s imminent you have them complete it. Let Davina know that she just needs to relax and she’ll awaken soon. The only side effect that Harvest girls have is getting too cocky for their own good.”</p><p>“Davina won’t wish to do it,” said Elijah. “It would take far too much convincing.”</p><p>“If she doesn’t do it, she and all the New Orleans witches lose their magic. Kol and I told them long ago that practicing Ancestral Magic was no longer safe in New Orleans. Those lands are too unstable and it corrupts the Ancestors. It’s not good to rely on dead spirits for power. Regular witches can perform spells just fine without being helped out by those who have passed on already.”</p><p>As it turned out, the Ancestors were indeed becoming a problem. </p><p>Hilda did not go back sooner because she did not wish to slaughter any witches. She preferred to let it be in the hands of her siblings since, of course, the witches were posing a significant threat to Hayley and her unborn child. </p><p>It had helped her heal more than she could have imagined. Being alone and only being able to contribute through the phone was doing wonders for her health. She was truly learning to live alone and it brought her peace to know that she was coping after all this time. Though she missed her brother every day, she knew that she would be able to bring him back soon, because she now had the tranquility of mind that she needed to search for the answer.</p><p>She had grown surprised to see herself interacting with her siblings so calmly, as well. Granted, it was from miles away and that made it so much simpler, however, she quite enjoyed hearing their voices. It was only terrible to know that things were not going so well in the city she loved.</p><p>Even the prospect being involved in Klaus and Hayley’s child’s life was bringing her joy.</p><p>Normally, Hilda despised children. She saw them as airheaded little bastards who were too immature to survive on their own. They asked questions that annoyed her and they acted so strangely that she felt tempted to throw them across a field of corn. However, she found that hearing about this baby was making her as excited as she had been when Henrik was born.</p><p>“It’s a girl?” she said softly the day Hayley called her to tell her the news they’d found out.</p><p>“Yep. I was really scared it’d be a boy— no offense, but a mini version of your brother would be too much for me to handle.”</p><p>Hilda laughed. “No offense taken. Don’t be so sure the girl won’t turn out to be just like him. You should give her a name with an H.”</p><p>“That’s what Elijah said. H for Hayley, Hilda, and Henrik, your brother.”</p><p>The Original found herself smiling. “I’d like that very much. The H’s in the Mikaelson family are always the best of the best. I’d say the K’s too, for my brother Kol, but Klaus likes to think of himself as a ‘K’ instead of an ‘N,’ and well, you know my brother’s ego might not survive such a blow…”</p><p>Klaus was slowly becoming better, though Hilda only noticed the slight changes because she’d known him for a thousand years. He had updated her at one point that he and Rebekah had gone to Mystic Falls. That day, Hilda found out that Klaus had finally gotten to kiss and shag Caroline in his actual body.</p><p>“No bloody way,” she gasped when he told her. “Was she on medication? Did she get hit on the head? Why would she sleep with you?”</p><p>“I’ll feign that I’m not offended by your insinuation, Hilly. She was perfectly sober, thank you very much. Consent was given and all the things I know you’ll criticize me for.”</p><p>“But— <em>where?</em> Did you take her to the Mikaelson Mansion?”</p><p>Klaus chuckled. “In the forest.”</p><p>“No!”</p><p>“Believe me, I was surprised too. But she wanted it right there and then and well, who was I to complain?”</p><p>At the very least, that had given Hilda a good laugh.</p><p>When the anniversary of Kol’s death had passed, Hilda finally decided that it was time to go to New Orleans, even though only Elijah and Klaus were there with Hayley. She had remained in mourning that day. Sitting in her room at a hotel in Naxos, she had spoken as if Kol was there. She liked to think that perhaps, he had followed her here. Even from the Other Side, perhaps, he could see her.</p><p>“You’re heading back today?” inquired Elijah in surprise. “That’s wonderful news, sister. Hayley has been eager to meet you. When will you be arriving?”</p><p>“Late afternoon. I’ll stop by the Compound only briefly to put on a dress. You say the <em>Fête des Bénédictions </em>is happening today, yes? I have to look good to meet these witches.”</p><p>“Yes. Niklaus won’t be attending until later, therefore he will meet you at the Compound. I will come to get you once I hear you are ready. I must be at the main center of the event since I am facilitating it.”</p><p>“Ooh, yes, I heard all about your little treaty of peace with the witches, wolves, and vampires. Let’s see how long it lasts.” </p><p>She arrived in New Orleans just before sundown and made it to the Compound, setting her bags down in her old room (Klaus and Elijah seemed to have been nice enough to fix it up for her). She enjoyed a quick shower before putting on a slim-fitting velvet dress that was the same color as the deep sapphire she hung around her neck. She curled her hair only slightly before putting a silver headpiece over it that had small dark blue flowers coiled into it. She grabbed the box of gifts she had prepared for the Harvest witches before going to meet her brother downstairs.</p><p>“You look wonderful, sister,” said Elijah, offering her his arm. “I believe that’s the necklace that—”</p><p>“Yes, let’s not say his name,” said Hilda hastily. “The only reason I still wear it is because it’s pretty. And I like to think that it’s consolation for being dumped so bloody harshly.”</p><p>Elijah’s lip twitched. Of course, the younger Original still had no idea that he had been the one that caused Tristan and Aurora to sever their ties with Hilda and Klaus, respectively.</p><p>They walked out into the crowded streets. The humans had no idea what was really going on, they simply liked the idea of a fun party with lights, pretty dresses, and good food and music. </p><p>Hilda surveyed the crowd as she and Elijah leaned back against a nearby wall, observing as a parade moved down the main street. The three Harvest girls who were awake were each dressed in marvelous gowns with gorgeous headpieces. The girl at the front had a floral arrangement about her, with more earthy tones to compliment her dark curly hair. The girl behind her was dressed in white, and the one at the end (this appeared to be Davina) had a gorgeous outfit that was fiery and stood out to everyone who watched.</p><p>“So, where is Hayley?” asked Hilda, scanning the rambunctious crowd.</p><p>“In the Bayou,” said Elijah calmly. “The werewolves will be sending a sole representative to this event. All the attempts at peace have not gone as well as I would have hoped. She is far safer with her own kind.”</p><p>“Those who were under the Crescent Curse, yes? No wonder they resent the witches, I would too. And to know that Marcel was the one that enacted that… he and I have never gotten along swimmingly and we certainly won't now.”</p><p>The parade came to a halt in front of a stage. A redheaded woman stepped forward as the thrones were lowered to let each Harvest girl walk through the tourists and onto the stage.</p><p>“That would be Genevieve,” said Elijah quietly, nodding toward the redhead. “Niklaus has gotten… comfortable with her.”</p><p>“Mm, no surprise there,” Hilda whispered back.</p><p>“She’s the nurse we mentioned, the one Rebekah knew.”</p><p>“The one that’s meant to be dead?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Genevieve held out her arms as the Harvest girls greeted the crowd. “Now, in accordance with the <em>Fête des Bénédictions</em>, the witches of New Orleans bless you all!”</p><p>Hilda clapped politely as Genevieve stepped offstage. The first girl— her name seemed to be Monique— stepped forward. She raised her arms, and an earthquake rumbled through the ground. The second girl— Abigail— came forth, sending a massive gust of wind into the faces of the tourists. Clearly, they thought that these were just very well done special effects. Finally, Davina turned to face the large sign behind her, causing several small explosions to take place as light came to the sign and fireworks went off in the sky.</p><p>“Thank you,” said Genevieve as the crowd roared in approval, very impressed. “We thank you all for being here, goodnight.”</p><p>The regular crowd of tourists dispersed, thinking the event over. However, the supernatural factions were the ones being invited to the afterparty. Elijah took his sister’s hand to lead her to another building deeper in the Quarter. He awaited at the entrance as witches began to trickle in, followed by the Harvest girls.</p><p>“Davina,” said Elijah, stopping the girl as she passed by him.</p><p>The young girl gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Elijah…” she looked over at Hilda, who nodded. “Hilda Mikaelson.”</p><p>“It’s lovely to see you,” said Elijah as Davina shook Hilda’s hand. “And under far better circumstances.”</p><p>Davina glared at him. “Is it? My friend Tim is still dead, and your brother’s still breathing.”</p><p>Genevive walked up from behind her. “Davina, that's enough. Elijah has been a patron to us this evening. We will show him respect.” She beckoned Davina away behind the other girls before facing Elijah. “Thank you for all of this.”</p><p>“This isn’t for you,” said Elijah without missing a beat, which made Hilda hold back a snicker. “You know  as well as I that your people would never accept a truce unless we showed them some respect. So be it. Enjoy your party.”</p><p>Genevive walked off, and right after, Hayley came in, her belly protruding and ready to pop already behind her simple dress. “Hayley Marshall,” said Hilda. “We finally get to meet.”</p><p>Hayley smiled politely. “Hilda, it’s nice to finally put a face to the voice. Your siblings had a very fun time hiding any pictures of you.”</p><p>Elijah chuckled. “My dear Hayley, we don’t have very many photographs of Hilda in our possession, I was truthful in that. Rebekah is the one who adores being painted and captured on film. Hilda, on the other hand… well, we had to force her to be in our Christmas photograph.”</p><p>“The same Christmas I got daggered, how swell,” said Hilda, rolling her eyes.</p><p>Elijah looked behind Hayley, seeing no one else had come to join her. “Strange. I thought you'd be in the company of your colorful friends.”</p><p>“You asked for a representative for the werewolves,” said Hayley, raising her eyebrows. “So take me or leave me.”</p><p>Elijah held out his arm for her, and Hilda smirked, walking ahead of them and into the building.</p><p>She walked down the main staircase, seeing the Harvest girls seated on three magnificent chairs for all to see. She took a drink from a waiter and sipped as she went to stand off to the side, watching the redheaded witch take the podium once more.</p><p>“Welcome,” said Genevive to those who had come. “As is our time-honored tradition, you are all welcome to deliver your offerings. It is our custom that no one should be turned away, no blessing be denied.”</p><p>Hayley was the first to walk up as guests lined up. Hilda got near the back. The werewolf went right for Davina and was about to set her gift down in front of her, but the attendant beckoned for her to place the gift in front of Monique instead. The next was another woman that Hilda had been told of— Francesca Correa. She set her gift down in front of Abigail.</p><p>The line continued and it was blatantly clear that Davina was not the favorite. The attendant kept stopping everyone from giving her anything, meaning the piles in front of Monique and Abigail continued to grow. It was clear to Hilda that Davina felt humiliated. She noticed a smug grin from Monique, cast in Davina’s direction, and Hilda felt her blood boil. If there was one thing she hated, it was witches who felt they were too good for the rest. She knew that this had been planned— clearly, Davina was not the favorite after she escaped the ritual.</p><p>When Hilda’s turn came, she made to put her gift in front of Davina. The attendant extended her hand to gesture her to put it in front of one of the other girls instead, but Hilda caught her hand swiftly, making the woman gasp.</p><p>“Now, now, love,” she said darkly, holding her wrist tightly. The entire room was watching, but no one dared to step forward. “You all wanted the factions to show you witches some respect and by that, they mean <em>all</em> witches.”</p><p>The woman gulped. “But—”</p><p>Hilda squeezed harder and the woman whimpered. “No,” the Original insisted. “No, no, and no. In case it wasn’t clear— <em>no</em>.” She released her hand as he felt Elijah walk up behind her.</p><p>“Sister,” he said sternly. “Behave.”</p><p>“I’m not doing anything,” said Hilda, putting the gift down in front of Davina. She looked up at her. “This box contains a booklet I made myself filled with rare spells of other Covens that practice Ancestral magic. There are some precious stones in here to fuel spells, some candles that won’t melt, and a few gold and silver trinkets that can be melted away.” </p><p>Davina had teared up, still looking embarrassed but significantly more grateful. ‘Thank you,’ she mouthed at Hilda, who winked. “Don’t worry about it, darling, Claire witches have always been my brother and I’s favorites,” she said before passing the other two girls who looked furious. Hilda went straight for Genevieve, who was off to the side.</p><p>“Yes?” asked Genevieve, looking a bit alarmed.</p><p>Hilda picked at her nails casually, not looking up at the witch. “Should I find out,” she said softly, “that you disrespected that poor girl again, I will remove Monique and Abigail’s insides and make you eat them before I gouge out your eyeballs. Is that clear?”</p><p>Genevieve’s heart rate picked up immediately, but on the outside, she seemed unfazed. Hilda patted her cheek and cast her a wicked grin. “Nice to know you understand, love,” she said before walking away.</p><p>She found Hayley a bit off to the side, holding a glass of water. “Poor dear, you can’t have alcohol,” mused Hilda, sipping on her champagne. “Not to worry, that little thing will be out soon.”</p><p>Hayley looked over at her. “That was a really nice thing you did. For Davina.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled. “She reminds me of her ancestor, Mary-Alice. That girl also used to be shunned. The Claires and the Bennetts are historically some of the best witch lines, and it draws hatred.”</p><p>“They made it seem like you were the heartless sibling. But you’re really kind. I was worried… that my daughter would be in danger around you.”</p><p>“Your daughter will always be safe with me, Hayley. She’s family, and I fight the hardest for family even though they can be obnoxious dickwads. I still have much to learn about tolerating children, but I will try my hardest. After all, we don’t want her to be a female version of Nik.”</p><p>Hayley laughed, but then went serious. “Ugh, speaking of your brother…”</p><p>Klaus was on the staircase. “Ladies and gentleman,” he said loudly, “may I have your attention, please.” The supernaturals reluctantly turned to look at him. “We are gathered here today to pay homage to our beloved witches, but one very special witch has been utterly ignored by all except my sister. That seems a little unfair to me.”</p><p>He moved to Davina, handing her a small box.</p><p>“No,” she said, glaring at him. “I don't want your gift.”</p><p>Klaus was clearly displeased at this. “I understand why you would reject me, given our past. In truth, many of us here today have been wronged in the conflict which my brother's treaty ended. Your friend Josh was involved in a plot to kill me. It would be well within my right to execute him here and now. But, in the spirit of solidarity, and for your favor, Davina, I hereby pardon him. Josh from this day forward, you have nothing to fear from me. Please.”</p><p>She reluctantly took the box, watching as Klaus walked off. Hilda frowned, and she and Hayley shared a look before walking closer to where Elijah was.</p><p>There was the sound of footsteps, and the two women stopped as a large group of drummers walked in after Klaus, playing a familiar tune. All of the attendees looked highly confused, as if this was not planned.</p><p>The lead drummer stopped as they reached the end of the staircase. “Happy <em>Fête des Bénédictions</em>. We have a message for all of you from Marcel Gerard.”</p><p>The crowd began to whisper as the drummers pulled out straight razors, holding up their wrists and slicing them open, letting blood drip onto the floor. The effect was instantaneous. All the vampires in the room started to twitch, their eyes turning red as veins flooded under their cheeks.</p><p>Elijah stepped forward quickly. “Control yourselves,” he said, pointing a finger around at them. “This is a vulgar trick.” He began to shout, “We do not violate our agreement!”</p><p>The lights suddenly went out and there was a rush of movement as the vampires took advantage of the darkness. Several people screamed. Hilda pulled Hayley protectively behind her as figures crashed into them from all angles. There was a squelching noise and Hilda felt something be splattered into her face.</p><p>The lights came back on and dead bodies littered the floor. On the walls, written in blood, it said, ‘THERE WILL BE NO PEACE.’</p><p>“E-Elijah?” Hayley said shakily. He moved forward to her, moving Hilda out of the way. The younger Original traced a finger over her face, seeing that blood had been what’d hit her.</p><p>She walked out behind her brothers and Hayley. Klaus stopped halfway and turned back around. Hilda did not follow.</p><p>“Get her to the Bayou,” said Elijah, looking around. “I must go speak with Marcel.”</p>
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<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>The Original hated having to trudge through the Bayou in heels.</strong>
</p><p>“Were the situation not urgent, I would have at least asked to go and change into boots,” she grumbled as they walked. “I haven’t been out here in ages.”</p><p>“I didn’t think you’d ever come to the Bayou,” said Hayley, walking in front of her and leading the way, a careful hand draped over her belly.</p><p>“‘Course I have. I had a thing with a werewolf at one point. Never amounted to anything, obviously, but she was hot, and it was hard to resist.”</p><p>Hayley raised her eyebrows. “When was this?”</p><p>“The 1900s. I had a bit of a crush on Mary-Alice Claire— Davina’s ancestor— but she wasn’t into women, so naturally, she chose Kol. I met Vera not long before I was daggered. She was an exquisite beauty. Not a Crescent, sorry to tell you, she had married in from another pack and was left widowed.”</p><p>“Do you think, if you hadn’t been daggered, things would have worked out between the two of you?”</p><p>“Probably not. Vera didn’t like vampires much— she really only made an exception for me. It wasn’t anything serious. Just some kisses. She was helping me with some magic and I was helping her with some supplies.”</p><p>Hayley smiled. “I think you should stick around and see if any of the wolves here catches your eye.”</p><p>Hilda blushed. “I highly doubt anything will come from it. Wolves really don’t like vampires. Especially not Originals.”</p><p>The werewolf had chuckled as they arrived at a small hut near the edge of the water. Two wolves awaited them— a muscular blond male and taller male with tousled curly brown hair.</p><p>“Hayley,” said the dark haired wolf. “Are you alright?”</p><p>“I’m fine, Jack,” she said, brushing her hair behind her ears. “I’ll tell you two all about it…” she beckoned toward the vampire behind her. “This is Hilda, she’s Elijah’s sister.”</p><p>The blond wolf whistled. “You Originals got all the good genes.” He held his hand out to her excitedly. “I’m Oliver.”</p><p>Hilda shook his hand. “Oliver… you’re the wolf that kissed by sister Rebekah.”</p><p>He blushed. “Oh, she told you?”</p><p>“My sister never keeps such things as secrets,” said Hilda, winking at him. “I heard all about the dancing and kissing… and the wolves attacking her.”</p><p>Oliver stepped back, holding his hands up. “Listen—”</p><p>“Oh, I’m not mad,” she said. “I was getting a back rub in Monaco when she told me, so I could honestly care less.” She fixated her eyes on the darker haired wolf who seemed intent on fussing over Hayley. “What’s your name, gorgeous?”</p><p>He held up his hand to wave at her, but did not extend it for a greeting with contact. “Jackson,” he said. </p><p>“Jackson,” she repeated. “Lovely.” She clasped her hands together. “Well, it seems you both have Hayley. Keep her safe, will you?”</p><p>“Will do,” Jackson responded. Hilda took this opportunity to take off her shoes as she began to walk back through the Bayou.</p><p>“You don’t want to maybe stay?” asked Oliver a bit too eagerly. </p><p>She let out a soft giggle and looked back over her shoulder. “Sorry, darling, I don’t make a habit of going for men my sister already had, even if it was just a kiss.”</p><p>When she got back to the Compound, she took another shower. Her dress was left hung up and she washed her body and face very well, wrapping her hair in a small towel hat. She slept peacefully in her old bed, glad to have some sort of familiarity. There was a pang in her heart thinking that Kol would have loved to be back here with her.</p><p>In the morning, after she’d had a nicely filling breakfast of sausages and toast with a glass of blood, she went up to the study and found Elijah sitting calmly on the desk while Klaus furiously tore through several bookshelves, as if looking for something.</p><p>“Can I help you locate your desired book?” asked Hilda with a cheeky grin, sitting beside Elijah. She nudged him. “By the way, excellent choice of servants, that short girl with the frizzy curls is absolutely delicious.”</p><p>Elijah smirked as Klaus turned to face them. “Yes, in fact, I believe you can help me, Hilda,” he said sharply. “I’m look for a book about yea big—” he gestured with his hands, “filled with our mother’s most powerful spells. It appears to have been misplaced.”</p><p>Hilda shrugged. “I don’t see it here. Mind you, I was only in the Compound for a very short time yesterday so I haven’t the faintest idea where it might be. I was under the impression you arrived late because you were protecting said book. This is a little strange, isn’t it, Elijah?”</p><p>Elijah was amused. “Yes, how very mysterious.”</p><p>“Indeed,” Klaus agreed, glaring suspiciously at the two of them. “At first, I feared the witches had succeeded in their efforts to obtain it, but considering their last attempt ended with me relieving a rather large, tattooed gentleman of his hands, I began to wonder if the thief wasn't a bit closer to home.”</p><p>He stopped to watch as Elijah began to nonchalantly scribble in a blank notebook. Klaus growled. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, brother.”</p><p>“Well, admittedly, I <em>did</em> have a theory that your sudden interest in mother's grimoire was in some way related to whatever foolishness you've been conducting with the Crescent wolves,” said Elijah, setting down the notebook. “Therefore, I took it upon myself to carefully place it where naughty little fingers could not pry.”</p><p>Klaus’s eyes flashed with malice and he looked at Hilda, gesturing toward Elijah as if saying, <em>‘do you see what I have to deal with?’</em> “And here, I thought you, of all people, would understand! I am simply trying to help those wolves! Play Samaritan to the abused. Champion to the underdog, so to speak.”</p><p>“How splendidly noble of you,” said Hilda solemnly, looking quite serious. “Well, I’d be happy to help you locate it if you tell me what this is all about.”</p><p>“I am trying to keep Hayley safe,” Klaus replied without missing a beat. “I am using our mother’s magic to empower her people so that they are capable of protecting her.”</p><p>“Oooh, I see where this is going,” said Hilda, clapping her hands together. “You want to make them those special rings so that they don’t have to turn on the full moons.”</p><p>Elijah glared at his brother. “And what if they decide to seek retribution for decades held in exile, Niklaus? Hayley will find herself in the middle of an uprising. One that will only provoke further violence. You see, you risk turning New Orleans into a war zone, brother. I won’t let that happen.”</p><p>Hilda held her hand up. “Now, now, brother, I think he’s got a point. The wolves deserve a proper chance. You’re the one preaching about peace. They deserve a proper advantage. There are many spells we could add to the rings— we could make it so they have to swear that they won’t attack the witches without cause. If they even try to do it while wearing the rings, it will burn them.”</p><p>Klaus gestured toward his sister to show that Elijah was just being ignorant. He went over to her and put his arm around her. “Now this is a prime example of why I have always respected my sisters more,” said Klaus with a wicked grin. “The drums of war were beating long before we returned. I suggest, Elijah, that you use a little less of this—” he mimed a talking gesture, “and a little more of these.” He pointed at his ears before going to sit on the couch with a bottle of bourbon.</p><p>Elijah rolled his eyes. “Since you are so eager to side with him, Hilda, you will accompany me to the Bayou.”</p><p>Her mouth dropped open. “Excuse me? I already went there yesterday! I don’t have the right shoes to be going in that mud!”</p><p>“Then by all means, purchase some, there are enough stores to supply you with all the shoes you will need for another decade, or longer. You will come with me to speak with the wolves.”</p><p>Hilda made a face. “Alright, don’t get your knickers in a twist.”</p><p>Within twenty minutes, she’d managed to find the best shoes she could, a pair of black leather boots that rose about five inches above her ankles. She put on a simple black tank top and some shorts, pinning her hair back with some green clips.</p><p>They arrived back at the shack from the day before, hearing two voices inside.</p><p>“I hope so,” Hayley was saying. “As fun as it is to imagine Klaus changing dirty diapers, I’m pretty sure that I’ll be doing this alone.”</p><p>The woman with her chuckled. “I somehow doubt that.”</p><p>Elijah pushed open the door. “Pardon the interruption,” he said. “I wonder if I might have a quick word with the conspirators of a supposed uprising.”</p><p>Hayley stood up and crossed her arms. “I’m guessing you mean Jack and Ollie? I’ll get them. Stay here.”</p><p>She walked off and the woman gave the two Originals a courteous nod before leaving the room as well.</p><p>“No wonder you’ve got your good trousers on,” Hilda said with a mischievous grin. “You’re mad for her.”</p><p>“I am not ‘mad’ for her,” said Elijah. </p><p>“She’s gorgeous. She’s assertive. You adore that. Haven’t you kissed her yet?”</p><p>“No, Hilda, I haven’t.”</p><p>“But you want to.”</p><p>“She is carrying Niklaus’s child.”</p><p>“That child will be born soon.”</p><p>Elijah glared at her and mere seconds later, Hayley came back with Jackson and Oliver.</p><p>“I’m told you wanted to speak with us?” asked Jackson. “I assume this has to do with what Klaus spoke to us about.”</p><p>Elijah nodded. “You’re making a grave mistake.”</p><p>Oliver scoffed. “So, you’re just worried about us. Is that it?”</p><p>Jackson held up his hand. “Look, Elijah. We know all about your brother's reputation, but if there is even a chance that these rings can help us take control of our curse—”</p><p>“—our gift—” interjected Oliver.</p><p>“Then honestly,” continued Jackson, “we don't care what he's really after. Won't have to.”</p><p>Hilda stopped her brother from responding. “I can assure you, if I write and refine the spell myself, the rings will work.”</p><p>Jackson made a face. “Excuse me? I thought Klaus said the spell was coming from your mother’s grimoire.”</p><p>“It is,” said Hilda. “Once we acquire it, I will be double-checking everything and making a more modern version. I have full faith that you all won’t act out once you get the rings. There are preventative measures that can be taken—”</p><p>“Like a leash?” said Jackson sharply. “I don’t like the sound of the rings being used to keep us at bay.”</p><p>“They wouldn't be,” she replied just as coldly, not enjoying that he had interrupted her. “It would only stop you from doing something you’ll regret and if you don’t ever intend to do it, you would never experience any effects.”</p><p>“The problem with these rings,” said Elijah, “is that there are those in the Quarter who will consider this a great provocation.”</p><p>“Apparently, most of them see us breathing the same way,” Oliver muttered.</p><p>Elijah turned to Hayley instead. “You signed a pledge, and you looked me in the eye as you did so.”</p><p>“We don’t want a fight, Elijah,” she said. “We just want a better life.”</p><p>“Allegiance with my brother will guarantee you anything but that,” Elijah countered.</p><p>“Listen, I can be the mediator if you children really can’t work this out in a better way,” Hilda noted, “but—”</p><p>There was the sound of a motorbike approaching. Confused, they went outside.</p><p>“What the hell?” said Jackson as a man rode into the encampment of the wolves. </p><p>“Which one of you is in charge?” asked the man on the motorcycle.</p><p>Jackson stepped forward. “Who’s asking?”</p><p>Elijah and Hilda were the first to notice that something was wrong. The elder Original tackled the man off the bike, causing a loud explosion to go off.</p><p>The blast knocked them all off their feet. Hilda’s body sailed through the air and she crashed into a tree, screeching in pain as one of the branches went through her abdomen. Her ears were ringing and her legs flailed, dangling off the ground. Her vision blurred as she tried to hear what was going on. Slowly, the sound came back and she heard screams of pain. She gasped and raised her arms, seeing they were covered in ash and blood. Her clothes were singed and the branch was sticking out of her, not even slightly broken, which was good.</p><p>She gasped as she reached her palms back, pushing herself off of the tree. She collapsed on the ground, stumbling forward. </p><p>“Hayley, are you okay?” she heard Oliver ask. Her head whipped toward where Hayley was perfectly fine. She ran to a little boy who was beside an injured man and picked him up, cradling him gently. “It’s okay… here… come here… oh God… Jackson? Here— get him away from here.”</p><p>Jackson, equally singed and covered in ash, took the child from her. Hilda and Elijah stumbled toward them. The injured man on the ground groaned as the younger Original knelt in front of him, lifting his shirt to see the burns. “Wolfsbane,” she muttered.</p><p>“It must have been in the gas tank,” said Hayley shakily. “You and Elijah are the fastest— take him and anyone else who can’t walk on their own.”</p><p>Elijah did not immediately move. “Are you sure you—?”</p><p>“I’m okay, Elijah,” she promised. “I’m fine. They need your help.”</p><p>The two Originals did not argue. They dispersed and started to assess who had the worst wounds. They did not opt for feeding them vampire blood— they knew the wolves wouldn’t like that. Instead, Hilda had to resort to doing the most first aid she could.</p><p>When Hilda had done her best to tend to those who were only mildly injured, she rejoined Elijah, who was just getting off the phone with Hayley.</p><p>“Is she okay?” asked Jackson, who had come closer to them. </p><p>Elijah nodded. “Apparently, yes.”</p><p>Jackson blew air hard out of his nostrils. “It's a good thing that bomb went off where it did. Could've been a lot worse. We all could've got killed.”</p><p>“Most of those with minor injuries are already starting to heal,” reported Hilda. “Those with worse injuries— I moved them closer to that shack, they should be okay there, one of your wolves is setting up some remedies for them.”</p><p>Elijah suddenly tensed. “Get everyone out of here!” he told Jackson. “Now!”</p><p>But it was too late. Before Jackson and Hilda could reach, eight different explosions went off, one right after the other. Hilda felt herself be knocked back again, then in a different direction. Her ears were ringing once more as she tried desperately to move anywhere else. She caught sight of Elijah shielding a man as another explosion went off right beside him. </p><p>She sped forward when she caught sight of a small boy running out from one of the campers, and barely managed to pull him into her arms, bringing his face into her chest and covering his body with hers as another explosion rang out, sending them to the ground, a large piece of heavy indistinguishable debris flying off and landing onto them. It was completely crushing Hilda, who whimpered in pain. She was holding her arms enough above the ground to keep the boy from being smashed along with her. She would survive, but he wouldn’t.</p><p>“H-Help!” she choked out as the little boy screamed for his mother. “Help— please—”</p><p>She couldn’t even dare to try and push the rubble off of herself, because if she slipped, it would kill the child that was barely safe beneath her. “HELP!” she screamed. She could see blood all over the little boy— it had to be her blood, he didn’t seem to be in pain, and it wasn’t dark enough to be coming from him…</p><p>She choked for air as Jackson and Elijah tore the wall of the camper off of her. The little boy sprinted up immediately and Elijah pulled his sister to her feet. There was no time to relax— they had to run to where Oliver was trying to pull the rest of the camper off of the woman who had been with Hayley, earlier.</p><p>“Help!” he yelled, unable to lift in on his own. “Somebody, help! Hold on, hold on Eve…”</p><p>Elijah and Hilda staggered forward, lifting each end of the RV as Oliver pulled Eve’s limp body out, picking her up and taking her into one of the shacks that was still standing. Jackson came over just as Elijah and Hilda dropped the RV.</p><p>“Casualties,” the wolf said in a strained voice. “There— there are casualties this time… the injuries are worse…”</p><p>Hilda coughed and wiped some of the blood off her chin. “There’s… there’s some remedies I can try to make, I just don’t know if it will do any good…”</p><p>Jackson just nodded and beckoned her into the shack where Oliver had laid Eve on her bed. The dark haired wolf opened a cabinet that was still intact, showing a stash of herbs and some equipment to make any magical concoctions. “That’s all we have. Anything that was outside would have been destroyed by the explosions.”</p><p>Hilda nodded and pulled out several of the herbs along with a mortar and pestle, beginning to grind them down. She did her best to ignore the movement around her as Jackson and Elijah went to gather all the injured into one safe place. Soon, she had some shining purple liquid, but it was nowhere near enough.</p><p>“A few drops in each person’s mouth will help,” she said tiredly. “But that’s all that can be managed. Most should start healing on their own, though…”</p><p>“Thank you,” Jackson told her gratefully, taking the pestle and using it to drip some of the liquid into the mouths of the injured they had laid out. Hilda felt a pang seeing that there were some children in the mix, those who hadn’t yet activated their gene, meaning they were not going to heal as fast.</p><p>The problem was the same with Eve. She had never activated her gene, either, and having been closer to the explosion sites, she wasn’t healing.</p><p>“My blood,” offered Elijah once they had done their best to treat the other wolves. “It could heal her.”</p><p>“Vampire blood?” said Oliver. “Trust me, she’d rather die.” There was a pause. “Look, we can't just let them get away with this.”</p><p>Jackson held his hands up. “We don't even know who's to blame.”</p><p>“The hell we don’t!” snapped Oliver. “And if we don't fight back, they'll just do it again.”</p><p>Jackson glared at him and Oliver left the shack in frustration. The Alpha turned to Elijah. “Is this the peace you promised?”</p><p>Elijah sighed. “I gather my brother believes he can remove your curse. My sister insists the spell will hold true.”</p><p>“Klaus was offering us freedom, not just from the pain that comes with turning, but from the contempt we've faced our whole lives.”</p><p>“And what about Hayley?”</p><p>“I want to make this place right for her,” said Jackson. “<em>Safe</em>, for her and the baby.”</p><p>Elijah nodded. “I believe you. Excuse me, I ought to check on those outside.”</p><p>Hilda sat down slowly beside Eve, who had yet to wake. “I’m sorry about all of this,” the Original murmured quietly. “I didn’t know it was this bad. When my siblings mentioned tension… well, they really only kept me updated on any problems that directly affected them. I should have come back sooner.”</p><p>“Were you not an Original, you would have died today,” said Jackson. “Don’t think you’re to blame in any way. We were lucky you were here. We don’t have anyone who knows how to make remedies the way you did.”</p><p>She half-smiled. “I was a witch before I was a beast. I study what I can, whenever I can. It comes in handy more often than you might think.”</p><p>He sat beside her. “Why would you help us get rings? Elijah clearly wasn’t for it. Klaus, well, we all know he has his motives.”</p><p>She shrugged. “I’ve known many wolves in my lifetime. My brother may not have yet tuned well into that side of him, but I have seen firsthand how painful transformations can be for all of you. It’s bloody terrible. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy… well, I would, but that’s besides the point.”</p><p>Jackson let out an airy chuckle. “You vampires have it so much easier. You drink vampire blood, you die, you wake up, you feed on human blood, and suddenly you have super speed, you can mind control people— you, especially, can mind control other vampires— not to mention you’re all so… normal.”</p><p>“Being a vampire amplifies a lot of negative traits. My twin brother and I were pretty calm as kids, our anger was let out easily with magic and physical training. As vampires, we became psychopaths. Blood, violence, feeling people die in our arms… it brings us excitement because we can’t acquire that rush of magic anymore. We’re terrible people. Actual monsters. My father made us think that the werewolves were the real monsters, especially after they killed our brother Henrik. But Kol and I never saw them that way. You all have to endure so much pain, and it’s not fair.”</p><p>Jackson looked down. “Is your twin going to show up anytime soon? Sounds like he might be a worse version of Klaus, no offense.”</p><p>Hilda shook her head. “No, he won’t… he died a year ago.”</p><p>The wolf put his hand over his mouth. “Shit… I’m sorry, I didn’t even think…”</p><p>“It’s not your fault, you didn’t know,” she said quickly, rubbing her arms. “I should probably head home, I don’t want to butt in much longer.”</p><p>Jackson stood as she did. “Thank you, again,” he told her. “What you did today… It helped us avoid more casualties. Even if you think it was minimal.”</p><p>In the evening, she and Elijah returned to the Compound. It seemed Elijah had decided that he ought to concede to his brother’s plans.</p><p>“First Marcel’s massacre,” said Klaus when he saw them. “Now bombs in the Bayou. I'll assume you're ready to give up this doomed treaty.”</p><p>Elijah held out Esther’s grimoire. “This alliance with the wolves, well... If it is to succeed, I believe you'll want this.”</p><p>Klaus took it. “Seems our sister convinced you after all.”</p><p>Elijah poured the three of them drinks. “The rifts in this city run far deeper than I even imagined, Niklaus. These tribes, these factions— they're families, families who choose to fight. Mayhem has descended upon our home, and if I'm to choose a side…” he handed the two others their drinks. “To our victory, my brother and sister.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>It was saddening to hear that the second public event she’d attend would be a funeral.</strong>
</p><p>“What?” she gasped. “Who died?”</p><p>“Father Kieran,” said Elijah. “He was the uncle of the bartender at Rousseau’s— Camille. You saw her in passing the other day.”</p><p>“Oh my… the girl that Nik seems to fancy?”</p><p>He nodded. “The witches cursed him. He was turned into a vampire and… Niklaus had to kill him so that the man wouldn’t murder his niece. It was a mercy killing.”</p><p>This certainly put a damper on things.</p><p>For the past few days, Hilda had been feeling unwell. Physically, of course, she was healthy. She could not get sick. However, her mind seemed intent on plaguing her with terrible dreams.</p><p>The first night, she dreamed she'd been back in Hawaii, relaxing in her room and listening to music. There had been a knock on the door and she went to open it, thinking it was the maid.</p><p>Instead, it had been Mikael.</p><p>She tried to shut the door, but he forced his way in, holding the White Oak stake. “Wretched, disappointment of a child,” he snarled, making her stumble back. “You, my blood, decided to call that hybrid bastard your brother? It’s pitiful.”</p><p>“Get away from me,” she said shakily, scrambling back.</p><p>Hilda never cowered in a fight. In fact, she sought out conflict often, because it helped to ease her mind. Violence brought her peace of mind. Sometimes, she knew fights were not worth it, so she simply wouldn't retaliate. But Hilda Mikaelson never flinched. </p><p>However, every time she saw Mikael, it was though she suddenly couldn’t think. All she wanted to do was get away, and she'd recoil, she'd lose whatever courage she had inside of her, expecting a blow in the face.</p><p>He seized her by the throat and threw her across the room. Her body hit a mirror and it shattered all over. She whimpered and tried to run, but he yanked her back by the hair, pulling her up and smacking her. “What a disgrace of a daughter,” he sneered. “I expected you would turn out better than Rebekah, and yet, you are back in the home of that half-breed and are aiding him in becoming a father as if that child isn’t ruined enough with wolf genes in its blood.”</p><p>“Let me go!” she cried, trying to claw at him. </p><p>He held the White Oak stake over her chest. “I should rid the world of you. Let you join your brat of a twin in Hell—”</p><p>Someone shoved Mikael back, and Hilda was dropped to the floor. She saw Kol tackling him to the ground. “Hilly, wake up!” her twin yelled. “WAKE UP!”</p><p>She shot up in her bed, face beaded with sweat. Shakily, she had gone to get water, and had not slept for the rest of the night.</p><p>The pattern had continued the next night. Mikael had appeared on the beach and had nearly staked her. Once more, Kol had saved her and she’d forced herself awake, her entire body shaking.</p><p>But last night had been different. Kol had not arrived. Mikael had tossed Hilda around in a battered shack that she’d once lived in during the 1600s. She’d screamed and tried to wake up, but she hadn’t been able to until Mikael had driven the stake into her heart.</p><p>“Hilda, are you alright?” asked Elijah.</p><p>She blinked, recalling that she was still in the middle of a conversation. “I’m fine. Just… the prospect of a funeral isn’t doing too well in my mind. We never had a proper one for Kol and… I haven’t been to one in a long time, is all.”</p><p>He offered her a reassuring smile and a pat on the back. “You needn’t feel obligated to attend, sister.”</p><p>“I want to go. For Camille. I should probably introduce myself to her properly.”</p><p>And so, within the hour, Hilda had put on her best black frock and heels and gone to where they were doing the wake at Rousseau’s. It was bustling with humans as she went in, knowing Klaus was already there. Elijah moved off to the side to wait for Hayley, meaning the younger Original was left alone to find Camille.</p><p>She found her sitting with Klaus and drinking. “Camille,” said Klaus in a strained voice, gesturing toward his sister. “Hilda. The brat that comes after me.”</p><p>Hilda was a bit surprised at his manner of introducing her. “Hello, Camille, nice to meet you,” she said, offering her hand. “I really am sorry for your loss.”</p><p>The blonde shook her hand respectfully. “I appreciate it. And please, call me Cami. Klaus… tells me that you also lost your twin brother.”</p><p>Hilda felt a pain in her chest as she sat down beside her brother. “Yes, I did,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”</p><p>Cami cleared her throat. “I’m sorry to you, too, I imagine it—”</p><p>There was a clinking sound and they saw that Marcel had gone forth to the bar, holding up a glass of scotch to address the crowd. “I know I haven’t been around these parts lately,” he said. “It’s a testament to Father Kieran that we could come together and share a drink, and a story or two. Kieran rolled into town on a rusty old cruiser after his daddy died twenty-five years ago. And damnit, that guy could party!” The crowd laughed with him, except for the two Originals and Cami. “That was, of course, before he took his vows. But, even then, he was committed to the Quarter. He knew that this town needed him. And, we still do.” He raised the glass. “To Father K!”</p><p>“To Father K,” the crowd agreed.</p><p>Cami immediately got up and left. Klaus made to go after her, but Elijah came forward at that moment, making Klaus grit his teeth. “Seems rather uncivilized to laugh and dance around the body of a loved one, don’t you think?”</p><p>Elijah poured himself a drink. “Yes, far better to practice your process of grief, Niklaus— denial, rage, and hoarding coffins in basements.”</p><p>“Can we not do this right now?” said Hilda irritably as Hayley sat down.</p><p>Elijah scooted over for the wolf. “I warn you, Hayley,” he told her, “my siblings appear to be in a spectacularly foul mood today.”</p><p>Klaus and Hilda both tensed. “Sod off,” spat the hybrid.</p><p>Hayley waved her hand out to get their attention. She could care less about their latest family squabble. “What's the deal with these moonlight rings? Oliver's trying to set a revolution every five seconds. People are scared, angry, and frankly, I'm tired of stalling.”</p><p>“Today is a day of peace, Hayley, try and enjoy it,” said Klaus. “And, in the meantime, with all manner of unknown enemies conspiring against our family, you'll move back in with us.”</p><p>“Awesome!” replied Hayley sarcastically. “Then, we can do that thing where you lock me in the tower, I escape, there's drama, and then you two both realize I'm very capable of looking after myself.”</p><p>“Now that I’m here, that won’t happen, I assure you,” said Hilda. “You’re not going to be confined to the Compound.”</p><p>Klaus looked quite frustrated with his sister, but let it slide. “The rings are in progress. I will live up to my word. We will find and punish whoever launched the attack on the Bayou, and you will return to the compound for your own safety!”</p><p>Hayley sighed and rolled her eyes as he continued, “But right now, I’m going to finish this bottle, and then the next, in the hopes of drowning the demon who has chosen today to haunt me. Cheers, Mikael. Impeccable, Freudian timing.”</p><p>Both Hilda and Elijah went rigid. “What did you say?” said the younger Original with a shaky voice.</p><p>“Have you dreamt of our father?” inquired Elijah.</p><p>Klaus sipped from his bottle. “Go ahead, have a good laugh.”</p><p>“This isn’t funny,” said Hilda seriously. “I’ve had three dreams of Mikael in the past three nights.”</p><p>“As have I,” added Elijah as Klaus looked at them, stunned. “If you are also seeing him…” he paused and looked at the door as Genevieve entered Rousseau’s. “Perhaps our elusive, unknown enemy is orchestrating a further attack?”</p><p>Klaus and Hilda looked back at Genevieve. “Well then,” said the hybrid, smiling fakely at Genevieve and waving. “What better way to punctuate a day of peace than by killing someone?”</p><p>The three Originals had made up their mind. “Follow her,” said Hilda, watching Genevieve heading out the back door. “I’m returning to the Compound. I can’t stand to be here for another second.”</p><p>Hayley followed her out, seemingly happy for an excuse to leave. “Are they going to get us the rings?” asked Hayley, hands on her hips as they walked out onto the street.</p><p>“I’d say yes, because they seem to be in agreement with it, but knowing my brothers, I worry there might be some bumps along the way,” Hilda mused, examining her nails. She held them up for Hayley. “I feel like I should get some stiletto-tip acrylics. Not very long, but sharp. I saw this movie called <em>Holes</em> after I read the book that a little girl in Hawaii let me borrow. The woman put rattlesnake venom in her nail polish and scratched someone.”</p><p>Hayley blinked, not having expected this question. “Well, what would you put instead of rattlesnake venom? That won’t do much to other vampires.”</p><p>“I’m thinking vervain, but I’d make some chemical alterations first. Make it more lethal. I'm quite good at Chemistry. I’d have to do a spell to protect myself from it, of course. But I’ve started taking vervain again, so it shouldn’t be all that bad. I just want that dramatic effect of being able to scratch someone and make them bleed to watch them recoil.”</p><p>“You do know vervain doesn’t work on witches, right?” The wolf assumed that Hilda wanted to subdue some of those, too.</p><p>“It might not, but other vampires do tend to get particularly nasty. When it comes to witches… Well, I can subdue them without need for vervain.”</p><p>The wolf snorted. “You’re a lot more violent than your sister.”</p><p>“Rebekah prefers to spend her free time imagining which males she can build a family with. She likes the idea of giving birth and having a stereotypical little house. I don’t care about having a family of my own, so I go for thoughts of murder and torture instead. It’s fun. Bex isn’t a psychopath. Her mind doesn’t work this way.”</p><p>“I won’t pretend to understand psychopaths, but all of you seem to be pretty… I dunno, chill? I'm basing myself off of just knowing you and Klaus.”</p><p>“The media portrays criminals very strangely, darling. It’s different, I believe, for us vampires. Blood occupies our thoughts and many of us who crave more excitement are even more fascinated by the gorey aspects and bringing harm to others. We still feel. We still get concerned. And in reality, I don't know if a proper psychologist would <em>actually</em> diagnose us as psychopaths. Everyone just calls us that and we go with it. The majority of us 'psychopaths' in the vampire world just have a soft spot for few people in our lives. Or no soft spots, too. See, Klaus, his soft spots are you and that child. When you pay attention to how he worries, you realize even psychopaths have hearts. For my siblings and I, family is one soft spot— though that fluctuates when we get angry with each other. The other spots vary.”</p><p>“Elijah said you haven’t um, had a soft spot for anyone in a really long time.”</p><p>Hilda sighed. “Yes, well, when things end the way they did, you stop really feeling like you can manage another pain like that. It's hard to muster up the courage to take such a tremendous risk."</p><p>Hayley made a face of concern. “Hilda, have you talked to anyone about this? And I mean, like, someone you trust to give you advice? You shouldn’t have to carry that pain with you.”</p><p>Hilda knew what she really meant was, <em>‘Wow, this bitch has been holding out for centuries because of one bad thing— has she been to therapy?’</em> The Original shrugged. “I’ve told many people. My brothers all know. I mean, they watched me cry for weeks.”</p><p>“What exactly happened?”</p><p>Hilda decided since there was still a bit left to walk before reaching the Compound, she might as well tell her. “When we first became vampires, we stayed at the castle of the Count de Martel. Klaus fell in love with the Count’s daughter, She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named because it triggers him beyond bloody belief. I fell in love with the Count’s son, Tristan. He was kind to me, and he… he gave me so much attention, it felt so fulfilling. He used to…” she chuckled a bit, “he used to climb up my window even though he could have just come through the door. All to bring me flowers. He gave me the necklace I was wearing the other night. We’d speak for hours. He’d play music for me, we’d dance in empty hallways and walk around the grounds. But when we were close to being discovered by Mikael and I went to tell him that we needed to leave…” She took Hayley’s hand to show her the memory.</p><p>
  <em>“Tristan!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda sped into his room, finding him looking out the window pensively. “Tristan—”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What do you want?” he said coldly. She was taken aback. “Excuse me?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I asked what you want, Hilda,” he repeated, facing her as if irritated. “What is it that you need? How do you seek to bother me this time?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda looked hurt. “I… I…” She wanted to say that she didn’t realize she was such a burden to him, sarcastically, of course. She wanted to pin him to the wall by the throat and snarl that he had no right to speak to her that way. But there was a pain in her lungs that wasn’t letting her breathe. “I just… I wanted…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh, yes, I heard all about your father finding you,” he snapped. “Your idiotic twin brother was out tearing into the villagers and now it’s come to bite you all in your arses." He turned away from her. "Leave.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Tristan,” she breathed shakily. “What… what do you mean? I— I wanted to ask… if you would join us… Klaus is going to ask your sister…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He came forward and seized her by her wrists. Despite being much stronger than him, she didn’t make a move to fight. She didn’t want to try to hurt him. He sneered into her face, “I want nothing to do with you, stupid girl. You really thought that any of this was real? That I gave a damn? I can assure you, I didn’t.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She gulped. “Why… why would you say something like that?” Surely he was ill…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He shook her roughly. “Don’t you get it? I don’t care about you! I simply needed a woman to fulfill my needs.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She mustered up her strength and knocked him back. “Don’t you dare speak to me that way!” she cried, tears running down her cheeks. “I gave you my virtue! I let— I let you be my first everything! How could you?!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It was quite easy,” he said snidely. “You’re an idiotic girl who knows nothing and it shows in the fact that you came, thinking I’d ever want to accompany you anywhere. I don’t desire you. I never did. Now get out of my sight, I never wish to see you again, you wretched abomination of nature. It sickens me that you were my only option.”</em>
</p><p>Hilda withdrew herself and Hayley from the memory. The wolf was in shock. “That was so mean,” she whispered. “That…”</p><p>Hilda rubbed her own arms. “As you can see, I have no interest in forming such relationships anymore. I won’t risk it. I thought, recently, perhaps, I had a chance. A human. But he’s dead, and I’m not going to let myself get hurt anymore.”</p><p>When they arrived at the Compound, Hayley watched her disappear into her room. The wolf couldn’t help but think how much more dangerous Hilda would be if she got hurt like that again. The built up rage was still showing even a thousand years later.</p><p>What she should have been wondering was how much more dangerous Hilda would become when she realized that it had been Elijah who compelled Tristan to say such hateful things. And that Elijah had compelled him to not seek her out, even decades later.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>Genevieve stopped by in the evening.</p><p>“I asked around,” she announced. “It’s not just your father. The purgatory where supernatural souls are trapped is disintegrating.”</p><p>Klaus looked grim. “She’s right, more or less. It's actually imploding. I made a call to a rather reluctant Bennett witch in Mystic Falls who said the same thing. The dead are being torn away into nothingness. And, they're not interested in going quietly.”</p><p>Hilda frowned. “So our father, faced with permanent extinction, has decided to spend his remaining time tormenting us?”</p><p>“Well,” said Klaus, “on the plus side, we'll soon be rid of his abhorrent soul forever. And what a good riddance that will be!”</p><p>Genevieve sighed and looked to Elijah for approval. “So, am I in the clear? Or is there a new conspiracy you two would like to threaten me over.”</p><p>Hilda leaned over with a cheeky smile. “Nothing comes to mind at this precise moment, darling.”</p><p>“Oh, gee, thanks,” said Genevieve, turning to Klaus. “I have to get back to the girls. Perhaps tomorrow, after the funeral, you and I could spend some time together. Alone?”</p><p>Klaus smirked a bit. “I suppose we’ll have to see.”</p><p>Genevive let out a sigh of annoyance before walking off. Elijah gazed up at his brother from where he was sitting on his chair with a glass of bourbon. “Please tell me you've designed a stronger method to control the witch than playing hard-to-get?”</p><p>The hybrid was amused. “Well, I've always been partial to the classics…”</p><p>“Let’s not talk about that woman anymore,” said Hilda, frustrated. “Do you not see how terrible this is?”</p><p>“Mikael will fade to nothingness soon, sister,” said Klaus. “Why do you continue to worry? And I thought you liked witches.”</p><p>“Not her. Not after what she did to Davina at that party. It was downright cruel. And I’m not worried about Mikael. I’m worried about Kol and Alaric. The first two times I dreamt of Mikael, Kol came and saved me from him. The third time, he didn’t show up. And I didn’t see Alaric at all. I know he was checking up on me before, he had told me himself. What if they’re…?”</p><p>Neither of her brothers answered her. In fact, they both looked away, and she scoffed.</p><p>“Do you really have nothing to say?” she snapped. “I don’t expect you to give a damn about Alaric Saltzman but Kol is our brother! And if the Other Side collapses, I’ll never be able to bring him back, no matter what spells I find. I’m nowhere close to finding a Coven that would do such a thing. They’ve steered away from it, and won’t do me any favors because I’m an Original.”</p><p>Klaus stared at his glass. “What do you wish for us to say?” he said a bit coldly. “Kol is not my priority, sister. My only priority is my child and the woman carrying her.”</p><p>Hilda slapped him across the face, sending his glass of bourbon flying across the room and smashing into the wall. Klaus got up immediately but Elijah stood between them. “What do you wish for us to do, Hilda?” asked the elder Original. </p><p>“I don’t know, but you two just sitting there quiet as bloody mice isn’t really helping the situation,” she muttered. “I don’t know what we can do, but I think I should go to Mystic Falls.”</p><p>“Absolutely not!” snapped Klaus. “You’ve spent enough time over there already. All for what? From what I hear, you didn’t even sleep with Alaric when you had the chance!”</p><p>She aimed a punch, but Elijah caught her arm. “Sister, control yourself!”</p><p>“How dare you reprimand me and not him?” she growled, trying to lash out, but Elijah held her back. “Just because the lot of you are okay with taking advantage of someone doesn’t mean the rest of us are! In fact, some of us are pretty fucking sensitive with the subject and it’s bad enough that you, especially, Niklaus, don’t ever seem to care that you’ve forced yourself onto women in the past! It's not so easy for all of us to get so intimate, so you have no right to make fun of me for not feeling ready for that!"</p><p>Klaus didn’t look like he felt any remorse. “Well, you’ll just have to get over it, because this family needs you here! We supported your months of hiatus and your time with Rebekah in that godforsaken city, but my child will be born soon and I need you <em>here</em>.”</p><p>This time, Elijah couldn’t hold her back, and her fist found its way to Klaus’s nose. “Bastard!” she spat, whirling around to kick him back. “You don’t just tell someone to ‘get over it!’ Is that what you’ll say to your daughter when someone tries to hurt her? Were it not for Kol, I would have been completely violated. If I recall correctly, you saw that man dragging me away and you did <em>nothing</em>!”</p><p>Klaus looked away. “I do not mean to insult you. I just bloody wish for you to stay. My daughter and Hayley need you.”</p><p>“And I want to help them, but not if you’re going to continue to shove Kol and I aside as if we aren’t your flesh and blood! What if I don’t want to stay? If I try to leave, then what? You’ll dagger me?”</p><p>“Yes, I bloody will,” he sneered. “Do your duty to this family, Hilda. If Kol has in fact disappeared from your dreams, it is likely already too late for him. While it may be a painfully brutal reality for you to accept, you must do so, because our other sister is not here to aid us. We need you!" He paused. "<em>I</em> need you.”</p><p>Hilda glared. “You don’t deserve my bloody help, Nik,” she said coldly, storming to her room.</p><p>Elijah followed her. “You are free to do what you wish, sister,” he told her. “But I will implore— I would like for you to stay, if only for our unborn niece. Her, and her only.”</p><p>Hilda stared at the wall, her hands shakily grabbing at the posts at the end of her bed. “He told me to get over it,” she whispered. “He told me to just… get over it. And after so many years I just can’t. No one just forgets, Elijah. Every time I let my mind wander, I see myself waking up to his… his hands all over me… to Kol tearing him off… the man snapped my bloody neck. I’m a fucking Original and he subdued me like it was nothing. Were it not for Kol sensing that something was wrong, were it not for that… that inexplicably mystical twin bond between us… what would have happened? And I know firmly that it isn’t my fault in any way. But I can’t help but constantly remember how easily he took me down. One minute, I was having a conversation with one of the duchesses, and the next, everything went dark."</p><p>Elijah inched closer. “I will speak to him, Hilda, I promise you that. His behavior will not be brushed aside. He was disrespectful and I won’t allow it. I will have my contacts look into what they can about Kol and Alaric, I swear it. Fortunately, I believe our Petrova doppelganger will not ignore a message from me.”</p><p>She turned around and pulled him into a hug, burying her face in his chest. She didn’t know why she was crying, but she felt like she had to, and with Elijah right there, she chose him to be her teddy bear.</p><p>Sometimes, it seemed, family could bring comfort.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>She was thrown into another nightmare the instant she fell asleep.</strong>
</p><p>This time, she was in Lafayette Cemetery. She was in one of the tombs— the Claire tomb, which she hadn’t been inside of since 1914. It was filled with all the trinkets and grimoires she and Kol had collected with Mary-Alice.</p><p>“Hilda?”</p><p>“Vera,” she whispered, looking at the gorgeous beauty in front of her. Slim, tall, with cinnamon colored skin and two long braids on either side of her majestic face. Hilda had been attracted to the werewolf because she was built like a goddess. She didn’t care if she was widowed or if she wasn’t a vampire. </p><p>“Remembered me, have you?” she said, leaning back against the doorway of the tomb. </p><p>“It’s kind of hard to forget a face like that,” she said, coming closer. “You left a few months after I met you. A few days before I was daggered. I just… assumed you didn’t want to see me anymore.”</p><p>“How could she want to see you?”</p><p>Hilda whirled around to see Mikael, glaring malevolently at her. When she turned back, Vera was gone, and Mikael seized her, pressing the White Oak stake into her back. “It’s disappointing to know you as my daughter,” he growled. “Falling for abominations like her. Supporting a beast of a brother. Aiding a tainted child. You never learn, do you? You’re a weak girl and I should kill you… but alas, I believe that I’d prefer to let you watch me tear out the throats of Niklaus and Elijah, first. Then, I think, I may prefer to have Rebekah follow suit, after all, she supports that hybrid bastard more than any of you. And when you are the last one left… once you are the last vampire remaining on Earth because you have not sired any of your own… I will make sure your death is painful.”</p><p>He shoved the stake into her heart and she gasped as she sat up on the bed, holding her chest. It took a few seconds of panting for air for her to realize she was now awake and safe in the Compound.</p><p>She got up quickly and washed her face before putting on the outfit from the day before for the funeral procession that was taking place that morning. She met Klaus, Elijah, and Hayley in the courtyard.</p><p>“Another dream of Mikael?” inquired Elijah. She nodded glumly. He nudged at Klaus, who sighed and stepped in front of her.</p><p>“I am sorry,” he said slowly, daring to meet her eyes.</p><p>“Are you?” she asked coldly.</p><p>“Yes, I am, for heaven’s sake, Hilda, take the apology,” he insisted, looking uncomfortable with the fact he even had to say he was sorry. He was clearly ashamed, but Niklaus Mikaelson wasn’t one to feel good about admitting he was in the wrong. “I should not have said any of it. You are free to go, if you wish.”</p><p>Hilda nodded her head. “Well then, thank you. I’ll stay, for a bit, just until the baby is born. I’m not sure where I’ll go after that, but we’ll be keeping in touch.”</p><p>“Just know that you will always have a room here,” he told her, half-smiling as he offered her his arm to escort her outside.</p><p>Together, the group walked out into the streets that were now filled with the sound of jazz as pallbearers moved behind the casket holding Father Kieran. Hayley kept coughing as they followed the procession, which was strange to Hilda.</p><p>“You alright?” she asked her. </p><p>Elijah frowned and looked over as Hayley kept coughing. “You look—”</p><p>“A hundred months pregnant and pissed off at the world?”</p><p>He offered her a smile instead. “I was going to say you look lovely.”</p><p>Hayley continued to face forward, where Francesca Correa was wiping her ‘tears’ with some tissues. “Do you think I was the target of those bombings?”</p><p>“Of course you were the target,” said Klaus without an ounce of hesitation. “Were I to wage a war on the wolves, you'd be my first kill!” Hayley glared at him as he motioned toward the roof of one of the buildings. “I would string you up, for all your worshipers to see.”</p><p>“I believe that was my brother's way of telling you he'd like you to return home with us,” said Elijah. “Perhaps try a different approach, Niklaus, with fewer references to murder?”</p><p>“References to murder aren’t bad,” said Klaus smugly. “And Hayley, as much as I would hate to throw you over my shoulder, and drag you kicking and screaming to the compound, we both know I will, for the sake of my child.”</p><p>Hayley raised her eyebrows. “A few bad dreams, and suddenly, you want to be a responsible daddy!”</p><p>Klaus put his arm around Hayley and pulled her close as Hilda and Elijah shared a look. “Let me put this into perspective,” the hybrid whispered to the wolf. “My father lived to torment me. It is not my intention to become him. This cycle of misery ends with my child.”</p><p>Hayley yanked herself away with a fake smile. “You forgot one thing in your little attempt to plead your case— she's not your child. She's <em>ours</em>.” She walked ahead, and Elijah snorted. “Very heartfelt, Niklaus.”</p><p>Klaus gritted his teeth. “I bloody hate funerals.”</p><p>Hilda, rolling her eyes at the two of them, walked ahead toward Hayley, who was staring intently at Francesca. “Do you know her?” she asked Hilda lowly.</p><p>“Nope. I wasn’t around here much in the 1900s either so I don’t recall any Correas.”</p><p>“If you find anything out, tell me,” she said. “Because I suspect something is up with her. I don’t trust her.”</p><p>Hayley continued to walk forward toward Cami. Hilda slowed her walk to let her brothers catch up. She looked over at Francesca and wondered what about her was making Hayley suspicious. Hilda hadn’t paid much attention to the woman, she could honestly care less.</p><p>Her eyes moved back to the two women ahead of her. Hayley moved off to the side, coughing and grabbing onto a lamppost. Hilda watched her suddenly throw up blood, and the Original managed to speed forward and catch her before she fell.</p><p>“KLAUS!” She cried, pulling Hayley up as she went unconscious.</p><p>Elijah and Klaus immediately tore forward, Genevieve right behind them. Elijah pulled Hayley out of Hilda’s arms and the two Originals followed him to the Compound, Klaus dragging Genevieve with them.</p><p>Elijah set Hayley down on the table in the courtyard, and the instant Genevieve proceeded to touch her, he caught her arm and pushed her away. “Don’t you touch her!” he snapped.</p><p>“Let it be, Elijah, she was a nurse,” Klaus said.</p><p>Genevieve held her hands up in surrender. “There's a spell I can do. Klaus, get chamomile from the pantry.” She looked down at Hayley. “She's trembling. Your jacket, Elijah.”</p><p>Hilda moved toward Hayley and leaned into her chest. “I hear only the baby’s heartbeat,” she murmured lowly. “Not hers.”</p><p>Genevieve, once handed Elijah’s jacket, draped it over Hayley and felt for her pulse. Klaus came running back with the chamomile, and Hilda took it, taking the bundle and pressing it on Hayley’s forehead.</p><p><em>“Coeur blessé, battre avec mwen,”</em> Genevieve began to chant,<em> “Coeur blessé, battre avec mwen.”</em></p><p>Elijah looked at his sister. “Is—?”</p><p>“The spell is familiar,” confirmed Hilda. “She’s helping her, just stay calm, for fuck’s sake.” She offered her hand to Genevieve. “Channel me, strengthen the spell.”</p><p>Genevieve didn’t hesitate to take her hand. Klaus anxiously bit into his wrist as the witch continued to chant, and when blood began to flow, he dribbled it into Hayley’s mouth, but it did nothing. “Come on!” he growled.</p><p>“This isn’t working,” Elijah insisted as Hilda closed her eyes, feeling energy leaving her body. “She’s still not breathing!”</p><p>Hilda cracked open her eyes in time to watch him throw a table into a brick wall, shattering it. She glared at her brother. “Really, is that staying bloody calm?” she snapped, Genevieve chanting faster beside her. “Shut up, Elijah. Genevieve, add in, ‘geri restaurer traiter retabli.’”</p><p><em>“Coeur blessé, battre avec mwen,” </em>continued Genevieve, <em>“geri restaurer traiter retabli. Coeur blessé, battre avec mwen, geri restaurer traiter retabli—”</em></p><p>Elijah moved forward and started to pick Hayley up. “I’m taking her to a real doctor!”</p><p>“If you move her from here, my spell will break!” snapped Genevieve, gripping Hilda’s hand tight, and causing the Original to hear and feel that her heart was beating abnormally. Hilda expected Genevieve’s heart should have been beating at a certain frequency— she was a nurse and though she was worried, she shouldn’t have had her heart hammering in her chest. She knew something, and she seemed overly terrified, which wouldn’t make sense, considering she didn’t even know Hayley. “There won’t be enough time to get her to a hospital.”</p><p>“Will the baby survive if delivered now?” asked Klaus. Hilda felt Genevieve’s heart skip a beat at the mention of the baby. “I’ll rip it out of her myself!”</p><p>“Hayley will bleed to death!” Genevieve said.</p><p>“I won’t lose that baby,” Klaus sneered.</p><p>“I won’t lose either of them,” chimed in Elijah.</p><p>“Both of you, shut up!” demanded Hilda, glaring at her siblings. “Genevieve, continue the spell, now.”</p><p>The redhead gulped as she began to chant once more. “<em>Coeur blessé, battre avec mwen, geri restaurer traiter reta—”</em></p><p>She suddenly let go of Hilda’s hand, hovering her hands over Hayley’s head, her palms trembling. Hilda frowned, because this did not make sense. She should not have let go when channeling her— it was a tremendous loss of power that wouldn’t be beneficial.</p><p>“I know what to do,” said Genevieve, looking at Klaus. “Get my bag— the gris-gris pouch— now!”</p><p>Klaus sped off and returned with it, and Genevieve took some herbs, crushing them and spreading them over Hayley’s body.</p><p>The wolf gave a loud gasp and sat up suddenly. Klaus and Elijah rushed to her. Elijah aided her in getting up properly as Klaus rubbed her shoulder affectionately. “You’re alright, love,” the hybrid said. “You’re alright.”</p><p>“I saw him,” said Hayley, still panting. “He tried to kill me. I saw Mikael.”</p><p>Hilda frowned. “Take her to her room, help her rest.” She faced Genevieve with a fake smile. “I’ll escort you out.”</p><p>Genevieve looked nervous as Hilda walked out of the Compound beside her. When Hilda heard her brothers moving upstairs and speaking with Hayley, she slammed Genevieve into the nearest wall.</p><p>“Do you take me for an idiot?” sneered Hilda, pinning the witch’s wrists. The Original’s eyes darkened, and she purposely allowed blood to rise into the veins under her eyes, making the redhead let out a terrified squeak. “You let go. There was something in your mind I would have gotten access to if you hadn’t released me. Now, I can search for it myself, or you can tell me. Hayley’s affliction was caused by magic. How funny it is that after your appearance in this house yesterday, she should fall ill mere hours after waking up.” She leaned closer to growl in her ear. “If you do anything to harm Hayley or that child, I will disregard my respect for witches, and I will tear you all to shreds and make sure, no matter how long it takes, that the Ancestral realm is cut off so that those rare few that survive will never be able to do magic in this city again.”</p><p>“P-Please!” gasped Genevieve. “I-I didn’t— I didn’t know—”</p><p>“Didn’t know what?” said Hilda, raising her knee and digging it into Genevieve’s stomach. She held the woman above the ground, her toes just out of reach from the floor. </p><p>“M-Monique,” Genevieve panted. “F-Failed spell— s-she just— she wanted to t-test— t-test the prediction—”</p><p>“Oh, yes, I heard all about Céleste Dubois’s little prediction while she was in the other witch’s body. Let me see if I understand— that bitchy and insufferable brat of a Harvest girl was stupid enough to try and test something, and it led to Hayley nearly losing her life?”</p><p>“D-Don’t hurt her!” Genevieve sobbed weakly. “I-I’ll talk— I’ll talk to her! I swear it.”</p><p>Hilda glared wickedly at her. “Yes, you will. The only reason I’m going to let you walk out of here is because we still need you to make those rings for the wolves. But mark my words, you’re on my hit list, Genevieve, and another toe out of line will earn you a painful death. Do I make myself clear?”</p><p>Genevieve nodded rapidly. Hilda slammed her down to the ground, and the witch whimpered, crawling back and struggling to her feet before running out of the Compound.</p><p>“Really, was that necessary?”</p><p>Hilda didn’t turn to face the hybrid. “Just because you sleep with her, doesn’t mean she can be trusted. Did you not just hear—?”</p><p>Klaus crossed his arms and leaned on the wall behind his sister. “Those ridiculous Harvest girls have their own agendas and you know it. Mind you, Genevieve is the only one I want doing this spell for the werewolves. Aside from the fact the other witches would never help us, she is powerful, and we need that.”</p><p>“As soon as she’s done her job, I’m going to kill her,” Hilda said nastily, turning to face him, eyes still flashing darkly. “And you’re not going to bitch about it, alright?”</p><p>Klaus held his hands up. “I could care less, as long as she makes the rings first.”</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>Hilda felt there was a change in the Compound the next morning.</p><p>She had been speaking with Klaus about Esther’s spell for the kyanite rings, and she sensed that her brother was planning something.</p><p>Then, when she had gone to speak to Hayley and Elijah about what to do while they waited for Genevieve to do the spell, she noticed they were unnaturally blushy around each other.</p><p>She leaned back on the couch of the study. They were waiting for Hayley’s werewolf friends to arrive. They were late, and Hayley was worried. Elijah was pacing the room, giving them a few more minutes before they began to freak out.</p><p>“You two locked lips,” deduced Hilda, wiggling her eyebrows.</p><p>Hayley immediately turned red, and Elijah adjusted the buttons of his shirt. “I believe,” he said, deflecting, “we ought to call Niklaus. Heaven knows where he is.” He pulled out his phone, and Hilda smirked as he dialed Klaus’s number.</p><p>“Yes, brother, what is it?” answered Klaus.</p><p>“It appears our wolves have gone astray, brother,” replied Elijah.</p><p>Hayley move closer to speak into the phone. “They should have been back <em>hours</em> ago.”</p><p>“We need to find them,” Elijah added.</p><p>“Well, that might be a bit tricky,” said Klaus. “You see, we've located their car on a back road in the middle of nowhere. I suspect they've been shanghai'd.”</p><p>Hilda scrunched up her nose. “And you didn’t feel the need to tell us that?”</p><p>She could imagine Klaus was smirking. “It was my intention to present you with a problem only <em>after</em> I had found an appropriate solution.”</p><p>Elijah looked exasperated. “Do enlighten us.”</p><p>“I’m closing in on it as we speak,” said Klaus. “The only person who would be bold enough to snatch my wolf allies is the one who has the most to lose.”</p><p>Elijah and Hilda shared a look. “Marcel.”</p><p>Hayley gasped. “No! He’ll kill them!”</p><p>“Genevieve assures me that Marcel has procured a cloaking spell,” the hybrid told them on the other line. “I just need to get one last bit of leverage before I pay her a visit. Await a text.”</p><p>He hung up, and Hayley clutched her belly. “No, this can’t be happening,” she said worriedly. “Marcel is going to murder them! And Davina— she’ll warn Marcel no matter what Klaus does!”</p><p>Hilda winced. “I would never advise someone to trust my brother, but we have to assume he has some sort of plan in motion already. He just has to let us know how it goes.”</p><p>Sure enough, Klaus had managed to get the location of Marcel’s hideout from Davina. A single text reading ‘Warehouse by the docks, Thierry’s place’ sent to Elijah let him and his sister know that their brother had been successful in whatever leverage he had found.</p><p>Leaving a very worried Hayley behind, the two Originals sped to the docks, finding Klaus outside of the warehouse. The three walked in together to find a man bound to a chair, with a black hood over his face.</p><p>Hilda was the first to move over and remove the hood from him. Jackson flinched until he realized that it wasn’t someone coming to hurt him. “It’s you,” he panted a bit weakly as Hilda examined the damage on his nose.</p><p>“Accolades to Marcel,” said Klaus. “He did quite a dance across the bridge of your nose. Where is he now?”</p><p>“Niklaus, Hilda,” said Elijah sharply. The two looked around and were made aware of several crates around the room that seemed to have wires coiled neatly on the floor, connected to an explosive rigged to the legs of the chair Jackson was in. Elijah opened the crate directly to Jackson’s left. “Marcel, perhaps, is nowhere to be found, but he did leave us a delightful parting gift.”</p><p>Klaus didn’t seem to be so worried. “What about the stones?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” said Jackson, beginning to panic. “Untie me, I’ll help you find them.”</p><p>“Stay still,” Hilda told him as he made to move. “It’s not safe.” She knelt to examine the explosives. “Now, if I was still a witch, I could very easy dismantle this but I seem to forget everything I learned about keeping bombs from going off. Oh wait, that’s right, I never learned about that, because I was daggered before I could sign up for a class.”</p><p>“Are you really going to make this about yourself?” said Klaus. “Our focus should be on the stones. Elijah, back me up here. Jackson is competition for Hayley’s affection, you should agree.”</p><p>Elijah did not seem to have any idea what Klaus meant. “Disregard my brother,” he told him. “Over the course of the last millennium, his capacity for tact has somewhat diminished.”</p><p>“Well, that’s typical, isn’t it?” said Klaus, going around and popping the lids off of several crates. “Marcel fills a room with dynamite, and yet, <em>I'm </em>the tactless one.”</p><p>Hilda snapped her fingers. “Hey. These explosives are the same ones from the attack on the Bayou.”</p><p>Elijah narrowed his eyes. “Could you remind me, Niklaus, again, why you believed that Marcel was innocent?”</p><p>Klaus shrugged. “Remind me to ask him before I pull out his innards.” He opened another crate and made a face. “Okay—” he gestured toward the crates nearest him. “Exercise extreme caution in this general area. Bit of a mess.”</p><p>Jackson started to breathe heavily. “Get me out,” he pleaded. “Get me out…”</p><p>“I promise, we will,” said Hilda, trying to be soothing. In reality, she was thinking of all the different ways she could make Marcel bleed out.</p><p>Elijah’s phone began to ring, and he picked up. “Impeccable timing.”</p><p>“What’s going on?” demanded Hayley.</p><p>“Jackson is fine. He’s…. A little tied up right now. Can we call you back?”</p><p>Klaus snickered at this, flipping open another crate. He frowned and reached in, pulling out a small paper, causing several of the explosive lights to flash green, and causing a low hum to echo around the room. “Oh, that doesn’t bode well.”</p><p>Jackson looked pissed. “Are you trying to kill us?”</p><p>“Elijah, tell me what’s going on, now!” cried Hayley.</p><p>Klaus unfolded the paper, and Hilda heard him whisper-read the words, “This is for Thierry.”</p><p>Immediately, the three siblings shared a look. Without hesitation, Hilda and Elijah tore the restraints off of Jackson and sped away as fast as they could, the building blowing up behind them, and knocking them right to the ground outside. Jackson let out a loud groan of pain, but aside from hitting the grass with two Originals on top of him, he was completely fine.</p><p>“Fuck,” he grunted as the three vampires stood, covered in ash. Hilda’s blouse was singed and she’d lost a shoe. </p><p>“Let’s get to the Compound,” said Klaus lowly as Hilda took hold of Jackson and the four made their way to where they had been before.</p><p>Hayley was waiting for them in the study as they came in, and she ran forward. “Thank God you’re alive!” she said, pulling Jackson into a tight hug.</p><p>“I’m fine, too, thanks for asking,” muttered Klaus in an annoyed tone.</p><p>Hayley ignored him and helped Jackson sit down. “What about the stones?”</p><p>Hilda shrugged. “Scattered across the bed of the Mississippi, I’d imagine.”</p><p>Klaus had already begun to pour himself a drink on the other side of the room. “Marcel's not a fool. He knows an empowered werewolf army would mean the end of vampires in New Orleans. The explosion is his way of saying he means to prevent that. For all the good it'll do him.”</p><p>“Well, it did him pretty damn well, didn’t it?” Hayley murmured.</p><p>“This is my fault,” Jackson sighed. “I’ll find a way to fix it.”</p><p>Hayley rubbed his shoulders affectionately. “No, Jack, you're hurt. No one's blaming you.”</p><p>Klaus raised his eyebrows. “I’m blaming you! Those stones will be hard to replace.”</p><p>“They are not,” snapped Hilda. “It will just take more time than what we anticipated.”</p><p>“Not at all, sister, because, fortunately for us, I always have a backup plan. We won’t have the same grand amount of stones as before, but we will have kyanite, nevertheless.”</p><p>He left the room, and Elijah and Hilda shared exasperated looks.</p><p>“It really is my fault,” Jackson insisted to Hayley. “I can own up to that.”</p><p>“It’s not your fault,” said Hilda, making him turn to her. “I love blaming people but this wasn’t your doing. Marcel is the one who felt threatened. He doesn’t know that we already spoke about the fact that all of you weren’t going to pose any danger to his vampires. Klaus may want to command you like an army but in the end you all have free will and to earn those rings, you’d have to behave.”</p><p>Jackson still looked disappointed in himself. Hilda gave a loud sigh and grabbed a bottle of scotch. “I’ll be in my room,” she announced. “When the backup plan kicks into motion, tell me.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>“This is your fucking backup plan?”</strong>
</p><p>Hilda came down, arms crossed, glaring as Francesca Correa walked into the room with five men behind her.</p><p>“You can’t <em>seriously</em> mean her!” snapped Hayley. “She’s a gangster!”</p><p>Klaus was indifferent. “I see her more as a means of procuring rare items at short notice.” He faced Francesca. “Greetings, Ms. Correa! I see you've brought company.”</p><p>Francesca gestured toward the men behind her. “These are my brothers. I always include them in delicate business matters.” She turned to face her siblings. “Fellas, meet Mr. Mikaelson.”</p><p>The men nodded, and Klaus smiled slyly. “Please, call me Klaus. All my friends do.”</p><p>“I don’t know if I’d call us friends,” said Francesca. She reached into one the briefcase one of her brothers was holding and pulled out a small black drawstring bag. “But, if you and Marcel are planning on having a little throw-down, I'd prefer my family to be on the same side as the inevitable victor.”</p><p>The hybrid raised his eyebrows. “Then, you have what I asked for?”</p><p>She held out the bag to him. “Not enough for an army at such short notice, but it's a start.”</p><p>Elijah made a face. “Strange, I wasn't aware that she was familiar with our plan.”</p><p>Francesca faced him with beady eyes. “My price for doing business is full disclosure. Your brother complied.”</p><p>Hilda moved forward. “Let me ask you this, Frannie,” she said, which made the woman in front of her twitch as if the nickname made her angry. “What the hell does the Human Faction stand to gain from this? Why would you even think to help us?”</p><p>“I only want us to solidify out allegiance to the ruling class,” said Francesca, glaring back at her. “It’s good for business.”</p><p>Klaus looked inside of the bag and examined the kyanite stones. “If only everyone shared your capacity for reason.”</p><p>“Sadly, they don’t,” replied Francesca. “Marcel is being especially vindictive. I'm worried he might come after me, or my family, just for meeting with you.” She drew a deep breath. “It might be in our best interests if we combine our efforts.”</p><p>Klaus was satisfied with this. “So be it! The more bodies we have to defend the compound, the better. Let's get started, shall we?” He handed the bag of stones to Hilda. “Follow me, sister, Genevieve is awaiting us.”</p><p>Hilda shot Francesca a suspicious look before following after her brother to the room Genevieve was in, examining the spell from Esther’s grimoire. “I trust you’re ready?” asked the hybrid.</p><p>Genevieve sighed. “The last ingredient is personal. As the spell is designed to control transformation, I need the blood of a werewolf who doesn't turn on a full moon. My first thought was Hayley, because of the pregnancy—”</p><p>“Out of the question,” said Klaus. “I'd just as soon limit the mother of my unborn child to the side-effects of your witchery. I am half-wolf, I control my form— use my blood.”</p><p>Genevieve raised a knife to cut into his hand as he stretched it out for her, but before she could, he used his other arm to grab her roughly. “If you fail to hold up your end of the deal, the consequences for you will be apocalyptic. And as you may have already guessed, my sister will be supervising you.”</p><p>Genevieve was obviously nervous at this. “You say the most romantic things,” she said weakly before cutting into his palm. Hilda poured the stones onto the circle of salt and herbs that’d been made and let the blood drip over them.</p><p>The witch began to hum, waving her hands over in delicate swirls as Hayley, Elijah, and Francesca came in to watch, the Correa brothers waiting just outside the doors of the dining room.</p><p><em>“Tua virtuse,”</em> chanted Genevieve, her eyes closed.<em> “Materi lunare tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse.”</em></p><p>Francesca seemed satisfied now, seeing the spell was underway. She stepped back out and Genevive paused, making a few motions over the stones before starting again, <em>“Tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse.”</em></p><p>More hand gestures.</p><p>“What is she doing?” whispered Klaus lowly. </p><p>“It’s part of the spell, shut up,” said Hilda, watching intently. Any slightly wrong movement could hint that Genevieve was trying to sabotage the spell, and she needed to be paying attention.</p><p>“You’ve studied this spell incessantly since Elijah gave me the book,” muttered Klaus as Genevieve chanted. “You know it like the back of your bloody hand.”</p><p>“All the more reason I will notice if anything goes astray. Now <em>shut up</em>.”</p><p>The process was slow. Over and over, Genevieve chanted. Sometimes, she did the hand motions twice instead of once between her chants. Other times, she chanted for a bit longer. She would pause and hum, tilting her neck back to face the ceiling, then lower it again to face the ground. At one point, she moved her hands in a figure eight, and whistled softly before continuing.</p><p>For those who knew nothing of witchcraft, it would seem to be the strangest ritual ever. To Hilda, it was art. Perhaps she was not the biggest fan of Esther, but her mother had flair and precision and as weird as the spell came off to others, anyone with knowledge of magic would know that this was the embodiment of perfection when it came to crafting magic.</p><p><em>“Tua virtuse,” </em>Genevieve said, holding her hands steady. <em>“Materi lunare tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse—”</em></p><p>Francesca suddenly rushed in. “My people say Marcel is on the move, and he's bringing friends.”</p><p>Klaus turned to his siblings. “Get Hayley to safety.”</p><p>“No,” said Hayley when Elijah tried to grab her arm. “Someone needs to watch her, and the two of you need to help your brother.”</p><p>Hilda was reluctant to leave Genevieve with someone who didn’t understand magic, but she moved toward the door. “I’ll stay with Hayley,” offered Francesca. Hilda made to protest, but Elijah pulled her out to where Klaus was waiting in the courtyard.</p><p>Already, vampires were flooding in through every entrance. Francesca’s brothers and their security guards who seemed to have arrived were holding up guns to the vampires that were arriving. Some came from the roof, others from the various hallways.</p><p>Klaus smirked around at them. “I thought this lot had learnt their lesson!”</p><p>“Well, they’re not exactly renowned for their genius,” said Elijah.</p><p>Hilda looked boredly around. “You’re telling me this is the wonderful army Marcel cooked up? I’m sorry, younglings, but you’ve come to die.”</p><p>Klaus chuckled. “So, where’s the ringleader of this circus? Too afraid to show his face?”</p><p>“I’m here.” </p><p>They looked up to see Marcel appear on the balcony above them. “And I'm gonna offer you one last chance to pack your stuff and get the hell out of my town.”</p><p>“You’ll allow your men to rush to their deaths?” asked Klaus. “Again?”</p><p>Marcel held out his arms. “Look around. Every vampire in the Quarter is coming out! They want their city back. No surrender this time. You're gonna have to kill us all.”</p><p>The three Originals were unfazed. “Okay,” said the hybrid. “I think I’ll start with you.”</p><p>“Fine,” answered Marcel. “I think I’ll start with you.”</p><p>He sped away, and Elijah growled. “If you don't kill him, I will.”</p><p>“He’s mine,” sneered Klaus. “This won’t take long.” </p><p>He sped away after Marcel, and Hilda knelt to make sure her boots were tied properly. The vampires watched as Elijah unbuttoned his jacket. “Gentleman,” said Elijah, gesturing for them to take their shot.</p><p>“And women,” noted Hilda, spotting several female vampires in the crowd.</p><p>Her brother smiled. “And women. Shall we?”</p><p>Several vampires from the balconies started to lunge for them.</p><p>It was all too easy. Elijah and Hilda hadn’t fought together very often, but they didn’t need past experience to be coordinated.</p><p>Hilda, especially, was a beast. She had no need to be a hybrid, because once she got into her element, it was the easiest thing to unleash. Vampires came from all angles and she easily punched or ripped out their hearts. With some, she only snapped their necks or broke their spines. Elijah was doing the same, though the vampires on his end seemed more eager to try and stab him with pieces of wood. It didn’t matter— the siblings adapted very easily. They whacked the vampires into each other with the legs of a nearby chair as if they were baseballs. At one point, Elijah caught a stake one of the vampires brought and tossed it to Hilda, who threw it with such force, it pierced through a vampire and sent the others behind them to the ground like bowling pins.</p><p>“Are we done?” said Elijah after the majority of the vampires were either severely injured or dead. He and Hilda were both covered in blood and their clothes were torn where some had managed to grab hold, but they had sustained no injuries.</p><p>They turned when they heard footsteps. “Well, nice job,” said Francesca, looking relieved. “Saved me the trouble of killing all these vampires myself.”</p><p>Hilda’s eyes flashed even darker than before. “Excuse me?”</p><p>Suddenly, the Correa brothers launched themselves forward, two taking each of the Originals. Hilda let out a scream of pain as they both bit into her neck. She tried to swat them off, but they held her down roughly, and she felt werewolf venom flooding into her veins. One of the brothers was biting right into her artery, and she gave a hoarse cry, her consciousness slipping away.</p><p>“No,” she gasped when they let her go, dropping her beside Elijah, who was passed out. “H-How—”</p><p>Francesca came to kneel in front of Hilda, grinning malevolently as she held up one of the now-spelled kyanite stones. “Triggered the gene, you know,” she said. “We’ll be back for you, don’t worry. You’ll spend every day of the rest of your miserable life dealing with a bite from one of my siblings, or me.”</p><p>Hilda’s consciousness faded as Francesca laughed darkly.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>She awoke to Elijah pulling her to her feet.</p><p>“‘Lijah,” she mumbled, staggering into him as he tried to hold her upright. “Where…?”</p><p>“They’re gone,” he said, dragging her into the dining room. They found that it was empty. The remains of Genevieve’s spell were on the table, but Hayley was nowhere in sight.</p><p>“What?” he gasped, setting Hilda onto one of the chairs. She slumped onto the table, gasping for breath. Her heartbeat felt weak. Surely, the hallucinations would begin soon. The sky was dark and she was sure that it had already been hours since the fight. She should have felt better already, but instead, she felt like she might throw up.</p><p>There were voices outside. Hilda looked up through her eyelids and saw Elijah run out. “MARCEL!” he yelled to the people outside. “WHERE IS SHE?”</p><p>She heard a scuffling sound. “Where is Hayley?” demanded Elijah, his voice hoarse from the venom.</p><p>“He doesn’t have her!” It took a few seconds for Hilda to recognize Cami’s voice. “Please! I know you don’t trust him, but you know I wouldn’t lie. He doesn’t have her.”</p><p>“Someone does,” said Elijah. “Where is my brother?”</p><p>“I left him in the street,” panted Marcel. His voice was also strained— it seemed Klaus himself had bitten him, too. “He was gonna kill me. And then he got jacked up by some witch’s spell.”</p><p>Hilda put two and two together at the same time as Elijah. “Genevieve,” he growled. “The instant Hilda left the room, she was free to make alterations to the spell. Francesca would have known but Hayley would have never recognized it.”</p><p>He sped back to the room where Hilda was in and picked her up, bringing her out. Cami gasped when she saw her. “Oh my God!” </p><p>Even Marcel looked concerned. “Hell no,” he said. “You have to snap her neck until it fades, she’ll be a hazard if she unleashes here.”</p><p>“I’m taking her with me,” said Elijah as Hilda tried to stand on her own. “I suspect Niklaus will be where Hayley is.” </p><p>He sped them away, already having an idea of where they might be. They arrived at St. Anne’s Church, but they were already too late.</p><p>“HAYLEY!” yelled Elijah as he and Hilda staggered in. Hilda’s vision blurred as she tried to see what was ahead. Klaus was sitting at the sacristy, and he was cradling Hayley’s body. Hilda could barely hear anything, but one thing was for certain— Hayley wasn’t alive.</p><p>Elijah pulled his sister forward, a horrified look on his face. “No,” he breathed. “No, no, no…” </p><p>He let go of Hilda as soon as she was close enough to rest on one of the pews. He collapsed beside Hayley, holding her head in his hands. Hilda sat up shakily and saw a line of blood across her neck.</p><p>“She’s gone,” mumbled Klaus numbly. As Elijah pulled Hayley into his arms, the hybrid moved to his sister, biting into his wrist and offering it to her. “Here— you’ve been bitten. Drink.”</p><p>Hilda pulled his hand to her mouth and began to drink, whimpering as she felt the dizziness and the pain fading away. Her vision cleared and when she gave a gasp, Klaus moved away and bit into his other wrist, letting Elijah drink. He did so, but he was hardly paying attention. As soon as he got his fill, he picked Hayley up and gently laid her on the table at the sacristy. He put his palms against the surface and asked, “how?”</p><p>Klaus went to help Hilda stand. “I was bested,” he said quietly.</p><p>“You were bested,” repeated Elijah shakily. “Huh…” He turned to Klaus, first looking like he was in disbelief, and then looking like he was furious. “You were BESTED?” Klaus flinched, and Elijah shouted in his face, “My invincible brother!”</p><p>“Hey, lay off!” snapped Hilda. “He hasn’t even had a chance to explain! Nik, what happened?”</p><p>Klaus was trembling. “The Harvest girls,” he mumbled. “Genevieve. Another male witch… they made her give birth… they subdued me… they…” he swallowed back tears, “t-they let her hold the baby… then they slit her throat. They snapped my neck… there was nothing I could have done.”</p><p>Elijah still looked angry. “I find it hard to believe that there was <em>nothing</em>, Niklaus!”</p><p>Hilda growled and shoved him back. “Are you bloody deaf?” she snapped. “From what it sounds like, there were several witches in here! We may be Originals but witches are still a match with their bloody magic!”</p><p>“You don’t understand,” Elijah said coldly. “You don’t.”</p><p>“How could I not?” she spat. “You think I don’t understand loss? Really? My twin brother died right in front of me! I had an actual fighting chance to save him but I was stupid and I held back because I was scared of what might have happened if I hurt Jeremy or Elena, and because of that, Kol died. Klaus tried, Elijah. He fucking tried! And in case you can’t tell, you’re not the only one grieving Hayley. Don’t make this about yourself.” She turned to face the hybrid. “What happened after that?”</p><p>“T-They just took the baby,” said Klaus weakly. “But there’s still time… we can save her.”</p><p>Hilda nodded. “Okay. Good. We’re going to save her. The only place they could go would be Lafayette Cemetery. There is an altar there to perform sacrifices.”</p><p>She grabbed onto both of their arms and sped them there. The two brothers walked behind her as she started heading the way she recalled, but it was soon very obvious that something was different.</p><p>“This is all wrong,” she said, stopping in her tracks. “We should be there by now.”</p><p>Elijah was still frantic. “The tombs are empty,” he said. “The grounds are deserted. She’s NOT HERE!”</p><p>Klaus growled. “This is the only palace they can be! We’ll keep searching!”</p><p>“They are not here, Niklaus!” Elijah spat. “We’re wasting time! Hilda, you can’t seriously—”</p><p>She cut him off by slapping him. “Bloody hell, pull yourself together!” she spat. “This isn’t your first loss, Elijah, I know it fucking hurts and you will get your time to cry, but this is not it! We have a niece who’s about to be killed and we need everyone contributing. If you’re not going to help, go the hell back to the church and cradle Hayley’s body if that’s what you fucking need!”</p><p>That certainly shut him up. “The Harvest was here,” said Klaus, brainstorming out loud to fill the awkward silence that ensued. “The Reaping was here. They’re about to perform a ritual which will feed their Ancestors for centuries. Ancestors who are buried here.” He pointed up at the statue atop one of the tops. “We’ve passed by this three times, all whilst going in the same direction.”</p><p>“Then the bitches fabricated some kind of illusion,” Hilda deduced.</p><p>Klaus sped to the tomb of one of the tombs and looked out. “That’s one word for it,” he muttered. “It’s like a labyrinth. An endless amount of tombs, as far as I can see.”</p><p>Hilda swore loudly. “I know a spell that would remove the illusion but none of us can do magic.” She swore again, stomping her boot into the ground. “Bloody fucking hell— why couldn’t I still be a witch?” She put her hands on Klaus’s shoulders as he came back down. “You need to take advantage of those hybrid instincts. Follow your nose, your ears, your heart and mind, not your eyes. You need to focus on your connection to that little girl and you need to be able to feel her presence. She radiates energy and you will be able to sense it, as she is your daughter.”</p><p>Klaus understood what she meant. He started to walk, and Elijah and Hilda followed him.</p><p>But the illusion persisted. Klaus marked the stones as they passed, showing where they had already gone. He sighed when he realized they were getting nowhere. “It’s ingenious,” he muttered. “I can see them, I can feel them, and yet they are not real.”</p><p>Elijah ran a hand through his hair. “There has to be a way. Even if we could just push through—”</p><p>“What we need to do is focus,” said Klaus pointedly.</p><p>Elijah, once again, seemed to lose his temper, not having yet gotten it through his thick skull that he wasn’t being helpful. “My only focus right now is that child and her safety, do you understand me? This— all of this— this is the world that you created, Niklaus.”</p><p>Hilda stepped between them, but Elijah wasn’t done. “All of your scheming, the enemies that you have made every single day of your <em>miserable life</em>— what results did you expect? That your child would be born into a happy life? That the mother would be alive to <em>know</em> her daughter? That we could live and thrive as some- as some sort of <em>family</em>?”</p><p>“That was your fantasy, brother, not mine!” spat Klaus, moving Hilda aside.</p><p>“NO, BROTHER!” Elijah roared. “This was our <em>hope.</em> This was <em>our family's hope.</em>” He started to struggle for breath, and held his chest. “And now… now she is gone. Do you understand? I let this person in. I let her in!”</p><p>Hilda wanted to be mad again, but this time, she didn’t feel like she had the courage to shut him down when she watched him begin to cry. “I don’t let people in,” he cried. “You knew this. You’ve taken her from me! I needed her, and you’ve broken me.”</p><p>Klaus moved to sit beside Elijah as the elder Original lowered himself onto the stoop of one of the tombs, his head in his hands. “You can tell your niece how much you cared for her mother when we save her,” said the hybrid encouragingly.</p><p>It seemed that this was what Elijah had needed. With a newfound determination, the two brothers stood, and it was wordlessly communicated Hilda that their plan to break through the illusion was to smash through tombs.</p><p>However, the witches had done their work too well.</p><p>“We’ve passed through here twice already,” said Elijah as they broke into a tomb that had candles lit inside of it. “We’re running out of time.”</p><p>“Then we move faster,” suggested Hilda.</p><p>“Or smarter.”</p><p>They whirled around to see Hayley standing behind them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Elijah was the first to move toward her.</strong>
</p><p>“Hayley,” he breathed, looking at the exhausted-looking woman in front of them. He touched her face as if unsure if she was real. “How are you here?”</p><p>She stepped forward, a bit dazed. “I woke up in the church,” she answered numbly. “I felt this hunger… I knew what I needed. I can feel her. She’s here. I can feel my baby.”</p><p>Hilda clapped her hands over her mouth. “You died with the baby’s blood still in your system!”</p><p>“She’s in transition,” Klaus confirmed.</p><p>Elijah looked horrified. “Which means she has to drink the blood of the child if she is to survive.”</p><p>“To be reborn a hybrid,” Klaus murmured.</p><p>Hayley stared blankly at them. “I don't care about me. I'm gonna go find our daughter.”</p><p>She walked out and the three Originals followed. It was unsettling how quickly and surely Hayley moved, but Hilda knew that this was a good sign. They moved fast, and arrived just in time.</p><p>“<em>Nouvelle vie, nouvelle âme, mélange avec nous,” </em>chanted the witches at the altar. Genevieve had just raised the knife above the baby’s head.</p><p>“NOO!” screamed Hayley.</p><p>The witches were startled. Elijah picked up a nearby urn and threw it full force, slamming it into Genevieve’s hand and sending her flying back, knocking the knife to the floor. The Originals moved forward, but Monique and Abigail stepped forward, linking hands and pointing their free palms at the group, beginning to chant, “<em>La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur... La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur…”</em></p><p>They were knocked to the ground, as if with a large beam. “You fools!” said Monique, as though she was any better than them. “To come against us in our place of power in our strongest hour? You don't face three, you face us all!”</p><p>“<em>La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur... La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur…”</em></p><p>There was a blur in the air and suddenly, Hilda saw the faces of hundreds of the dead witches that had come together to stop them from interrupting the sacrifice. They tried to move forward, clawing into the ground, but there seemed to be an invisible barrier they couldn’t pass through. When they came close to it, it burned in their cores and send them further back. Every last muscle in Hilda’s body ached as she tried to get to her feet. The power was too great.</p><p>“<em>La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur... La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur…”</em></p><p>“I have— a plan,” Hilda croaked as she watched Hayley dart off to the side, getting out of the range of the spell. “I have to… corrupt the spell…”</p><p>“How?” gasped Klaus beside her, struggling to move without intense pain. </p><p>“<em>La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur... La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur…”</em></p><p>“I know… the incantation. Just try to fight it, and I will go as long as I can…” She pressed her palms hard onto the ground. Perhaps she was not a witch, but she had power, and she knew that she had the power to corrupt a spell with an incantation that the Ancestors would not like. It was a long shot, and she had only done it once before with Kol’s help, but they had no other choice.</p><p>She dug her nails into the cracks between the gravel on the floor. <em>“Corrumpere perturber blòk, maji couper. Putridus pourri kòwonpi, causis ruinosus deranje, obstructionum bloquer maji, cessare sispann rete.”</em></p><p>The effect was instantaneous. There was a glitch in the illusion of the Ancestors and few disappeared. Klaus was able to break free, diving off in the opposite direction as Hayley to try and get the baby, who was crying a the altar.</p><p>Monique and Abigail continued to press on with more force, clearly not knowing what Hilda was doing. She didn’t expect them to understand— it was an incredibly ancient practice done to suppress any witches who did Ancestral magic, since often, their minds were corrupted with visions of power from those who had passed on before them.</p><p>“You won’t succeed!” cried Monique. “<em>La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur... La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur…”</em></p><p>Hilda gritted her teeth, ceasing to struggle, holding tight to the floor. <em>“Corrumpere perturber blòk, maji couper. Putridus pourri kòwonpi, causis ruinosus deranje, obstructionum bloquer maji, cessare sispann rete.”</em></p><p>More of the Ancestors faded. She could hear the grunts and yells of Klaus, Hayley, and Genevieve behind the nearby tombs. </p><p>“<em>La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur... La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur…”</em></p><p>Hilda chanted louder, <em>“Corrumpere perturber blòk, maji couper!Putridus pourri kòwonpi, causis ruinosus deranje, obstructionum bloquer maji, cessare sispann rete!”</em></p><p>Elijah was able to break through, and he was able to tear a spike off of one of the wrought iron fences. He made to throw it, which distracted the girls. As Hilda continued to chant, Klaus reappeared, taking a different spike off and throwing it into Abigail’s stomach. It impaled her into the wall and killed her almost immediately, breaking the connection to half of the remaining Ancestors.</p><p>Clearly, Monique realized that she had underestimated them. She sprinted back and picked up the knife. The three Originals and Hayley tore forward, though the new hybrid was still being suppressed by Genevieve, who was inflicting pain on her with magic. Monique swept her hand up, creating a wall of fire that singed the Originals upon contact, causing them to jump back.</p><p>It seemed that they were about to witness the baby’s death. But then, from behind them, there was a whoosing noise and something flew forward, lodging itself in Monique’s stomach. Cuts began to appear over her body, and she staggered back, beginning to cough up blood, which caused the wall of fire to disappear. The two brothers turned to see who it was that had saved them, but Hilda sped forward to Monique as the girl began to bleed out.</p><p>The fury had taken over. The object inside the girl’s stomach was an all too recognizable dark object— the Devil’s Star. Hilda yanked it out, but not to save her. She seized Monique’s neck and lifted her head, smashing it into the ground. The girl’s eyes immediately rolled to the back of her head. Hilda heard her heartbeat slowing down, and dove her hand into the girl’s chest, tearing out her heart and taking a very angry bite out of it before spitting the pieces in her face.</p><p>“Hilda, that’s enough,” said Elijah quietly from behind her.</p><p>She didn’t realize how much she had been shaking. She looked down and saw that blood was all over her hands. It was in that moment that she realized that consciously, she had only wanted to give her a brain bleed and tear out her heart.</p><p>In reality, she had done something more. Monique’s face was disfigured and bruised. There was a dent in her temple, and a sunken part in her neck. Hilda’s breathing became unsteady and she looked down at her own hands. In her blind rage at the witches, knowing that Monique had hurt Hayley and nearly killed her niece, she had mutilated the girl. She must have been punching her without realizing. </p><p>Elijah pulled her up. Hilda blinked and looked around, seeing that Klaus and the baby were gone. Hayley had Genevieve by the throat and was dragging her into one of the tombs.</p><p>“Marcel saved us,” said Elijah calmly as he got his sister to let go of the heart she was still holding. “He and Klaus will have taken the child to safety.”</p><p>Hilda shivered, trying to wipe her hands on her pants, only to realize that they, too, were covered in the crimson liquid that was on her blouse. “What the hell did I do?” she mumbled, looking back at Monique. Was it just her eyes, or did it also look like her nose was broken?</p><p>“I don’t really know what happened,” he said honestly. “One second you were beside us, the next, you were beating into that girl and…”</p><p>Hilda gulped. “I was so mad… she… just… her face…”</p><p>“Breathe, sister,” he said gently. “It’s alright.”</p><p>“That’s… my first big outburst in awhile. The last time I forgot what I was doing…”</p><p>“I remember,” he said quietly. “1907. You… didn’t realize until much later that you slaughtered all those men in that bar when you saw them harassing that young witch friend of yours.”</p><p>She looked down at her hands again. They were still completely red. “I lost it,” she whispered. “I thought— I thought I was just going to make her brain bleed… and remove her heart… but… but…”</p><p>“You were thinking of the fact she quite nearly murdered our niece. How she was responsible for Hayley’s death. And the illness, the other day.”</p><p>She nodded numbly, and Elijah continued to lead her to where Hayley had chained Genevieve up in one of the tombs.</p><p>“Why?” Hayley snarled in her face, the redhead looking ashamed. For awhile, Hilda was able to forget that she had lost herself for a moment. </p><p>“The Ancestors left me no choice,” whispered Genevieve. </p><p>Hayley looked appalled. “You were willing to sacrifice an innocent baby for more power?”</p><p>“No, not just power!” said Genevieve, as if this would make them show her mercy. “It was the Ancestors’ decree. It was <em>her</em> decree.”</p><p>Elijah grabbed her roughly by the face. “It was <em>whose</em> decree?”</p><p>Genevieve smiled weakly. “I’m surprised you have to ask…” she laughed darkly. “After all, you were the one who convinced your siblings to consecrate her on New Orleans soil.”</p><p>Hilda sneered under her breath. “Esther.”</p><p>“So not even death can stop my mother from seeking the annihilation of her own flesh and blood,” muttered Elijah.</p><p>“This isn’t the end,” said Genevieve a bit anxiously. “As long as that child lives, the witches of New Orleans will never stop coming for it…” She began to cry. “Esther will never stop coming for it. It has been decreed— your baby will be consecrated among her ancestors. She will not live.” She then gave a gasp, and began to bleed from her eyes. “They're coming for me, I can feel it. I failed them. Understand— I just wanted to live. Tell Klaus... I'm sorry.”</p><p>Just like that, Hilda snapped again. She grasped Genevieve’s throat and glared at her with a sadistic grin. “No, love, actually, we’re not sending any messages for you.”</p><p>She moved back as the redhead began to choke up blood. Hayley took advantage of this and took the ceremonial blade, shoving it into Genevieve and yanking it upward, splitting her abdomen open. “And I’m not sorry,” she added in a deadly whisper as Genevieve ceased to breathe.</p><p>She walked out, and the two Originals followed her.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>“We should have felt our mother’s hand in this,” said Klaus to his siblings and Hayley, who was in the other room, holding the baby in the rocking chair. By then, Hilda had showered, but she refrained from looking at her hands. She could swear that she could still see blood on them. “We should have known she would not be bound by anything as obvious as death. And now she has control of the witches. They will never stop.”</p><p>“Not to mention that we have now learned that Francesca and her brothers are part of the previously thought-to-be extinct Guerrera werewolf pack,” said Elijah.</p><p>“Hayley and the child are wolf royalty,” murmured Klaus. “As such, they are a threat to Francesca's claim to the leadership. They will never be safe.” He looked at Elijah. “What was it you said to me earlier? That I have made enemies every day of my miserable life? Well, the worst of them are within these borders, brother.”</p><p>Elijah sighed in frustration, clearly feeling guilt about this, but Klaus seemed to want to make a point about it. “I have brought into the world a weapon they can use against me,” he said sadly.</p><p>“Then we’ll arm ourselves,” said Hilda, staring at the wall. “We’ll fight. What other choice do we have? We’ll basically have to turn this Compound into a fortress to keep the baby safe.”</p><p>Klaus lowered his voice and said, “I will not have her live her life as a prisoner.”</p><p>“Then we leave here, together,” suggested Elijah. “All of us.”</p><p>Klaus shook his head. “Wherever we go, however far we run, those who seek power and revenge will hunt us! They will hunt her. She has inherited all of our enemies with none of our defenses.”</p><p>“So, whether we stay, or we leave— we condemn her,” muttered Hilda.</p><p>Hayley walked up to them, rocking her daughter in her arms. “There's a third option.” She paused as they faced her. “I grew up in a warzone. My parents thought they could protect me. But, in the end, they were slaughtered, and I spent my childhood alone and unloved.” She looked down at the baby and smiled, swallowing back tears. “I made a promise, to my baby, and to myself, that she would not grow up like I did. That she would grow up safe, and loved. And yet, here she is, on her first day in this world, with a grandmother who is bent on sacrificing her—” she started to sob, “a-and a m-mother who has to d-drink the b-blood of her own b-baby to survive t-transitioning into a h-hybrid… and I’m the one who loves her most…” she pulled her into her chest, the three Originals looking saddened to see her like this. </p><p>“I think,” she continued shakily, “the only thing to do is… send her away… while we stay behind and clean up the mess that we’ve made.”</p><p>“No!” cried Elijah. “This is insane. You heard Genevieve— so long as she lives, that baby will be hunted.”</p><p>Klaus stood up, a pensive look on his face. “Not if no one knows she lives.”</p><p>Hilda and Elijah shared confused looks. “What is it you intend to do, brother?” asked Elijah.</p><p>“Whatever it takes to save our family,” replied the hybrid, face scrunched up in concentration. “They will be watching us, if we go through with this. All of them. And we need to take her somewhere safe… but the four of us leaving together will draw too much attention. I will ask only Hilda to accompany me. The two of you, take your mourning public when we are gone.”</p><p>Elijah pursed his lips. “I don't imagine that will be too difficult. Grief, after all, is grief. But in what world will she be safe without her father? Without her mother? Who can protect her better than we?”</p><p>Klaus smiled slightly. “There are two people in this world that I trust will get the job done.” He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. The line rang a few times before the person on the other end picked up.</p><p>“Nik,” came Rebekah’s voice. “What is it?”</p><p>“Listen carefully,” he told her. “My daughter has been born, but this is not meant to be common knowledge. I will need for the entire city of New Orleans to think she is dead. You, my dear sister, are the gentlest of us all, and in the time that my daughter cannot be in the Compound with us, due to the risk she faces remaining in the city… I ask that you accept my offer to take care of her for us while we cannot have her at our side.”</p><p>There was only a brief pause before Rebekah answered. “One thousand times yes!” she said. “When shall I meet you? I know the perfect place to get supplies.”</p><p>Klaus started to tear up. “I will text you the details. This is to be a secret, Rebekah. Remember that.”</p><p>He hung up and tucked his phone away before coming to kneel in front of Hilda. He took her hands and she flinched. “Rebekah may be able to hold her own,” he whispered, “but there is no one more suitable than you to protect the both of them.”</p><p>She furrowed her eyebrows. “You mean… you want me to go and help… raise your daughter? Nik, you know I’m not good with kids… and after today…” she withdrew her hands, refraining from looking at them. “It’s not safe for her to be with me. I would never like to admit that you’re right about something but I’m <em>dangerous</em>. Sometimes, I need to be put down.”</p><p>Elijah seemed to understand what Klaus was thinking. “I believe, sister, that our brother is right,” he said. “This… this will be good for you. You pride yourself on success and all we need is for you to keep our niece safe. While most of us seem to cope best being around our siblings, you and Kol always fared better processing your emotions when away from the center of drama. I think that we dragged you back into conflict far too soon. This will be a break for you, until you are ready to return. You can stay only until Rebekah is fully settled in. You will know best which protective spells will keep you all from being discovered. You will understand what spells can be done if something were to need fixing. You, my sister, are the most intelligent of us all when it comes to magic. And our niece is set to be a Mikaelson witch. In her first months of life, she will need someone that understands that magic, and that person can only be you.”</p><p>Hilda felt herself tearing up. “Do you really trust me to do that? After today?”</p><p>“We have always known that you and Kol struggled to control your minds,” said Klaus quietly. “We know that it’s a condition that perhaps needs not be named. You lose what little sanity you have and you lash out, or break down. You switch between moods like nothing I have ever seen before. We have never been there in the past to help you… either of you. The two of you understood best how to help the other heal from an episode. However, we paid attention, and if there’s one thing I know, you always feel better when you get to take control of your own life. You sought to be free, sister. This is your freedom. All I ask is that you protect your niece and sister. You are free to move around as you please. I simply think… this calmer environment with a gentle creature will be what you need to feel at peace again.”</p><p>Her agreement set the plan in motion.</p><p>She was nervous, but she did not show it. Somehow, she knew he was right. Perhaps, kids were not her favorite types of humans, but already with the few glimpses she had had of her niece, she felt a tenderness and desire to protect her. She was so tiny and fragile, and Hilda would always lay her life down for family.</p><p>In the evening, Hilda snuck into the car while Klaus drove. She remained in the backseat with the sleeping baby while Klaus drove. She stared intently at the newborn in her carseat, not daring to touch her. She felt she might break her if she did. Perhaps she wanted to protect her, but she felt that was best done from a distance. </p><p>It was quite dark when they arrived at the outskirts of New Orleans, outside of the Bayou. Klaus parked the car and pulled his daughter out as Hilda held onto the carseat. She watched her brother rocking the little girl gently in his arms, smiling down at her.</p><p>A car drove up to them, and Rebekah stepped out. Klaus and Hilda offered their sister a smile as she walked up, staring in amazement at the baby girl. “Hello, sister,” said the hybrid quietly.</p><p>Rebekah smiled and caressed the baby’s cheek. “Oh, she looks like her mother. Maybe there is a God after all.”</p><p>Klaus laughed as Hilda moved to put the carseat in the back of Rebekah’s car, fastening it in. “Well, she has a hint of the devil in her eyes,” Klaus told his other sister. “That’s all me.” He then became serious. “Hilda has a cloaking spell prepared. You two need to find a witch you trust to perform it.”</p><p>“We will find one, Nik,” promised Rebekah. </p><p>“No one can ever find her,” Klaus noted.</p><p>“I know what to do, Nik,” said Rebekah. Then, with a dreamy expression, she added, “Perhaps we’ll get a white fence. I think that would be lovely.”</p><p>Klaus managed a weak chuckle as Hilda walked back to them. “I think Hilly might not like a white fence.”</p><p>Hilda scrunched up her nose. “Only if we grow bushes behind it. With flowers.”</p><p>Rebekah smiled. “We can do that.”</p><p>The two women watched their brother lift the baby to be able to kiss her forehead. “This city would have seen you dead,” he whispered. “But, I will have it be your home. And every soul who wishes you harm will be struck down, just as sure as my blood runs in your veins.”</p><p>Rebekah looked mildly horrified at this, but Hilda felt only saddened. That was the way Klau showed his love. “You will return to me,” he promised, kissing her on the forehead one last time. He held her out toward Hilda, who hesitated.</p><p>“I-I haven’t held a baby since Henrik was born,” she whispered honestly.</p><p>“You won’t hurt her,” he said reassuringly. Hilda bit her lip and held out her arms. He lowered the baby slowly in her arms and the younger Original tensed, before relaxing a bit, seeing the little girl relaxing into her.</p><p>She found herself smiling. Her gentle little face was so adorable. Hilda let out a sigh and rocked her a bit, in awe that such beauty could exist in the world. She was perfect. This, her flesh and blood. Perhaps, children weren’t so bad.</p><p>Klaus took this opportunity to hand Rebekah the tiny wooden knight he had carved for her, one thousand years ago. At this, Rebekah began to cry. “In spite of our differences, Rebekah,” he told her, “there is no one I would trust more with my daughter's life. You and Hilda will protect her while I cannot.” He pulled them both into a loose hug to not crush his daughter, and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. “Be happy, my sisters.”</p><p>“She will be happy, Nik, I promise,” said Rebekah, placing the little knight over the blankets as Hilda continued to sway her a bit to continue helping her sleep. “What’s her name?”</p><p>Klaus began to cry. “Hope. Her name is Hope.”</p><p>He watched as his two sisters moved toward Rebekah’s car. Hilda climbed into the backseat and lowered Hope into the carseat, buckling her in before adjusting herself securely beside her. Rebekah got behind the wheel and put the car into reverse before driving them away.</p><p>They drove in silence at first. The engine hummed lowly, and Hilda focused only on making sure that Hope fell asleep. Then, her phone chimed.</p><p>“Nik already?” asked Rebekah. </p><p>Hilda furrowed her eyebrows. “No, unknown number. Wait— what? <em>‘Surprisingly, Damon of all people had Rebekah’s number and she was more than happy to give me yours.’</em> What the...?”</p><p>She saw Rebekah smiling in the rearview mirror. “You’re welcome,” she said. “I knew that if you were going to be with us, I might as well give you something to be happy about.”</p><p>“Rebekah, who—?”</p><p>Her phone chimed again, and she nearly dropped it. The message read, ‘For my contact picture’ under a picture of Alaric, very much alive, drinking a bottle of bourbon.</p>
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<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>September 1, 2012</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>Hilda wondered how she went from hating kids to willingly changing diapers.</strong>
</p><p>As it turned out, she and Rebekah were quite a good duo when it came to raising a baby.</p><p>It was easy to communicate when Hope was asleep. Either hand gestures or mouthing or entering the other’s mind was sufficient to get across a good point. </p><p>They knew each other well. Hilda knew Rebekah worried about whether Hope was warm or not, and made sure to always prepare extra clothes. Rebekah knew that Hilda worried that Hope would cease to breathe in the middle of the night, so she slept beside her to listen to her heartbeat.</p><p>One did the cooking, the other did the cleaning. Hilda elected to always do any shopping that was needed, and Rebekah always took Hope out in her carriage to see the outside world. They traded off who burped her and gave her formula. </p><p>Hilda had reached out to the old Creole Coven she and Kol had met in Colorado. They were more than happy to do the cloaking spell in exchange for some materials from Hilda, which she happily provided. They were guarded against locator spells and prying eyes. They could choose who got to see their real faces, but for the majority of the time they stepped outside, they always looked different to passerbys. The witches had also added in a bonus early warning spell system that the two sisters kept handy. If they heard metallic rattling from one of their purses, they would know they’d been discovered by someone unwanted.</p><p>Hilda was still unsure why Rebekah would ever want children of her own, but she had grown to have an appreciation for the joy that tiny creatures like Hope could bring. </p><p>She was so <em>calm</em>. Hilda knew that many new parents struggled to get used to their babies crying all the time. But the two vampires seemed to always know exactly what she needed and when, and were able to prevent her from crying very often. In general, she was a very happy baby, always smiling.</p><p>She was curious. Her gorgeous little eyes constantly darted all over the place. She hardly focused when Rebekah played peek-a-boo with her (they soon learned that Hope was not interested in such lousy games). </p><p>“You’re doing it again!” said Rebekah one evening when she found Hilda talking to Hope in the nursery about all the things in the room.</p><p>Hilda made a face. “Why do you complain about how I talk to her? She wants to know!”</p><p>“You speak to her as if she’s our age! You’ve never once used baby talk on her.”</p><p>“Because it’s <em>stupid</em>, Bex, I’m not going to make my voice high pitched and make weird faces for her entertainment. We’ve learned my now that she wants to be introduced to new stimuli constantly. I read an article that says they learn to talk better when you speak to them normally.”</p><p>Rebekah didn’t understand how a person could be so casual with a baby. To her, Hilda was a heathen. Rather than cooing and making Hope laugh, she would talk to her for hours on end about magic and about the outside, the plants and animals and most of all, the special places she had been. She spoke as if to another full grown person.</p><p>Once, she’d listened to Hilda go on an hour-long monologue about the Parthenon. Rebekah had expected to come upstairs to find Hope asleep from boredom, but instead, the little girl had been looking up at Hilda in wonder.</p><p>Maybe Rebekah was just jealous that Hilda calmed her down easier.</p><p>The youngest Original had noticed a change in her sister. She had yet to visit Alaric, but they spoke every day. She told him nothing about Hope, simply said she and Rebekah were vacationing together to take a mental break from their family.</p><p>She smiled more. Rebekah had communicated with Elijah and heard about Hilda’s outburst that day in the cemetery. She had been concerned her sister would snap again, that she would lose track of time and find in hindsight that she did something terrible. But it didn’t happen. In fact, this was the calmest that Rebekah had ever seen Hilda be.</p><p>“It’s so strange,” whispered Rebekah in the phone one day that Hilda had gone out to get groceries. “It’s like she looks forward to waking up. When have you ever known our sister to like the idea of a new day? For a thousand years she’d wake up with the most pessimistic attitude, and she and Kol would go off on murder sprees because they felt so bored with life as it was!”</p><p>Elijah chuckled. “I believe, perhaps, our sister may be trying to be a good influence to your special little visitor. Even if she cannot see her, you know Hilda has always worried about how others see her, especially when she knows they pay attention to her. Hope will not remember any of this, but Hilda might be motivated to behave better if she wants to influence her to turn out better than all of us.”</p><p>Rebekah paused to think. “No, I don’t know… I think it’s that man she talks to every day. I mean it, Elijah, <em>every day</em>. She’s like a teenager again. Whenever she’s not busy helping with the baby or doing chores, she’s on that blasted phone typing away. And sometimes she’ll leave the house for hours and I know she calls him whenever I’m with Hope.”</p><p>“Can you blame her? She’s trying to cope with the fact that Alaric came back and Kol did not. She’s distracting herself, as she usually does. And after what our sister has been through, it’s good that she’s building up trust with someone she fancies. It’s healthy, Rebekah, don’t worry. I knew this would help her, and it has.”</p><p>Hilda certainly did feel healthier. She had a deep conversation with Alaric every day. And since he was set to become a Professor at Whitmore College in the fall, they were having historical discussions about magic to help prepare him. </p><p>She felt comfortable with him. She was getting to know his personality better, and she liked it. He was charismatic and selfless, kind and determined, he was driven by wanting more out of life and always seeking to better himself. He was intelligent, and she told him so, often. He made her feel like she could be honest. She admitted things about her life that she hadn’t told anyone in a long time. She wanted him to know the truth about her.</p><p>And the thing was, he didn’t judge her. He didn’t make her feel like she was a monster. She would tell him of many of the awful things she’d done. Deep down, a part of her wished to dissuade him… if he backed off, she wouldn’t risk hurting him. She was already paranoid that one day, she’d get triggered and she would wake to find that she’d killed her niece. If she hurt Alaric or someone he cared about…</p><p>He didn’t pull back. He made her feel important. He made her feel like a good person who had risen above. Rather than hold against her all the bad things she’d done in her life, he mentioned how that didn’t make her a beast, it made her strong. Someone who defended others because in reality, every single instance of violence in her life had been done to defend someone. Herself. Her brother. Other friends she had had. </p><p>She had tried to tell him that this was not true. </p><p>“I’ve killed people just for fun,” she murmured into the phone. “I just get into a mood and I snap and it thrills me beyond belief. Every drop of blood is like… drugs. It brings me to such a high and I relish it. I want it more and more. It’s an addiction. I’m addicted to violence, and it’s a problem. You can’t seriously still insist that I’m a good person after that. No. I’m just… a fucked up, bipolar psychopath. Maybe the diagnosis is even worse than that.”</p><p>He shook his head, even though she couldn’t see him. “You were defending yourself from your own mind. You knew it would turn against you if you didn’t feed it. It would have made you hurt someone without you realizing it. I don’t pretend to understand how your mind or the mind of any psychopath works. It’s different for everyone. But I think that deep down, you have always tried to protect yourself. People have hurt you and it was so wrong of them to do that. It pains me to hear what they’ve done to you. It’s like you said before, you hurt people before they can hurt you. You feed and attack because you know that if you don’t, all the doubt and self-hate will build up. It will turn on you and cause you to lash out and then, you’ll be plagued with guilt. You’ve been keeping yourself safe this entire time. You’re not a monster, Hilda. I swear to you, I mean that.”</p><p>His words resonated in her head, and she felt butterflies in her stomach.</p><p>“Okay,” she said quietly. “I believe you. I trust you.”</p><p>When September arrived, Hilda felt that she wanted to take a little trip.</p><p>“Ah, you’re finally going to go see your beau,” said Rebekah, smirking when Hilda told her her plans. “Have fun.” She winked.</p><p>Hilda blushed. “Not like that. It’s been months and I just want to see his face. You and Hope have settled in well enough and that was the plan. Honestly, I should communicate with Klaus and return to New Orleans, soon. You’re much better at the whole baby thing. I need to get back there and do something productive.”</p><p>“Go have fun with your boyfriend first,” said Rebekah. “Then you can choose if you want to go home.”</p><p>Hilda smacked her playfully. “He’s not my boyfriend, Bex.”</p><p>“Yes he is! You’re telling me he’s not your boyfriend after months of nonstop communication?”</p><p>“Altogether, I haven’t known him for more than half a year, you know? He’s known me longer, technically, since he was watching over me from the Other Side for almost a year.”</p><p>“The time doesn’t matter, Hilly. You fancy him. He clearly fancies you. That could mean something. Take him on a date or something, see how you feel. If you think you want something out of it, tell him. He’ll respect whatever choice you make.”</p><p>Hilda decided to follow her advice. However, she chose to make it a surprise.</p><p>There were a few days left before the start of term at Whitmore College. Hilda was unable to pass through Mystic Falls— apparently some Traveler witches had put a spell to keep magic out, meaning vampires were not allowed. </p><p>She made it to the Department of Occult Studies inside one of the many buildings on the campus. Alaric was in his lecture hall, music playing as he took notes and switched between writing on the board.</p><p>Hilda had snuck up to the very back row of seats, sitting back casually to see how long it would take him to notice her.</p><p>“I wasn’t expecting a student so soon,” he said after about ten minutes, when he got out of his little study grind trance. </p><p>She smirked and walked down to join him at the desk. “Well, Professor Saltzman, I had a question about the syllabus. Why are we learning about big bad vampires? What expertise do you have in that area?”</p><p>Alaric grinned at her. “Oh, I don’t know, let’s see, my best friend is a vampire, his brother is a vampire, his girlfriend is a vampire, the girl his brother secretly likes is a vampire, his brother’s best friend is a vampire, one of my very near and dear friends is actually one of the Original vampires, and ah, let’s not forget, I’m technically an Enhanced Original thanks to said Original’s mother.”</p><p>Hilda raised her eyebrows. “Impressive. I think you’re ready to teach Occult Studies. Just don’t be one of those Professors that makes the midterms have a ridiculous curve. Be nice to them, they’re doing their best to balance out several classes.”</p><p>“I already have my midterms ready. Want to hear a question on one of them? ‘For extra credit— draw a vampire. It can be a stick figure with triangles for fangs.’”</p><p>She sat onto his desk. “I think that’s generous.” She looked up at him and felt a blush rise into her cheeks. “You look good, Ric. Are you keeping the stubble?” She gestured toward his beard. “You should, it’ll make them think you’ve been through some shit. Which, of course, you have.”</p><p>“I only keep it around because I know you like it,” he said, smirking when it caused her to look away.</p><p>“I have no idea what you mean,” she replied smoothly, staring up at the seats. “Maybe I should enroll in college. I’ve never been. I can major in Chemistry.”</p><p>“You’d be good at it, I bet. Teach the Chemistry Department a thing or two. It still amazes me that all the magic you know can be applied to science. Maybe I’ll have you be a guest speaker for one of my classes.”</p><p>She seemed to like the sound of this. “Hmm, I’d be willing to. It’d just be funny… I’m eternally seventeen and the students will notice I look too young to be a typical guest speaker. They’ll be confused.”</p><p>“Ah, we’ll just say you’re a childhood prodigy and no one will question it, they’ll all show up to lecture either buzzed or sleepy or loaded with caffeine. I just think they’ll have a lot of questions if they pay attention. It’s not every day you meet someone that knows this much magic. You should be a teacher.”</p><p>She cast him a strange look. “You really think I’m patient enough to teach? I’d need to be held at gunpoint.”</p><p>Alaric laughed and came to sit beside her. “Are you going to be staying? You could stay at my apartment for as long as you need, I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.” </p><p>Hilda shrugged. “I don’t know if I’m going to stay. I’ll need to head back to New Orleans soon. Be there for my family. They’re still mourning their baby and I haven’t been there for my brother. There’s a lot of stuff that needs to be taken care of.”</p><p>“Is it safe for you to go? You said two of the Guerrera brothers took you down like it was nothing. With those kyanite rings…”</p><p>“I wouldn’t be alone. Hayley should be doing better with being a hybrid now, and Klaus and Elijah won’t let me out of their sight.” She clasped her hands together. “I might stay only for a few days but I think New Orleans is calling my name.”</p><p>Alaric nodded in understanding. “Well, my door is always open for you. It’s not going to be a luxurious hotel room like what you’re probably used to, but it’s comfortable.”</p><p>Hilda nudged him playfully. “I’m not used to hotel rooms. You forget I’m the least favorite sibling of those of us that remain. I didn’t get the luxury experience. Whenever I wasn’t daggered, Kol and I traveled to learn magic. We would stay in some very run-down buildings and often sleep on the gravel outside. We didn’t like to depend on our siblings or family name for comfort. We appreciate anything and everything that is given to us.”</p><p>Alaric pulled out his phone. “Speaking of Kol… I think you might want to speak to Matt Donovan.”</p><p>She furrowed her eyebrows. “What? Matt and Rebekah were the ones that got to know each other well.”</p><p>“Well, when we first learned the Other Side was falling apart, Matt went there when he died briefly— he had the Gilbert Ring on. He saw Kol and they exchanged several words. Matt was able to remember what he said. And being an Original, well, you can look into his mind for those memories. It might help you feel better.”</p><p>Hilda nodded. “Alright. Well, we ought to go, then. And if we see the others, I can be nice. Especially to Damon, since he got Rebekah to give you my number.”</p><p>At the mention of Damon’s name, Alaric’s lip twitched, and Hilda frowned. “What?” she inquired. “What don’t I know?”</p><p>Alaric hesitated. “When I told you… that all of us made it back after Damon and Elena blew up the Mystic Grill… I wasn’t telling the truth. Damon and Bonnie never made it back.”</p><p>Hilda clapped her hands over her mouth. “You mean… when the Other Side fell apart…?”</p><p>He nodded gravely. “It… would seem they were taken along with it.”</p><p>She felt herself start to tear up, which was bizarre. But seeing the pained look on Alaric’s face was making her chest ache. “This entire time you’ve been listening to me rant about my problems and I-I had no idea you were dealing with something like this— <em>why didn’t you tell me</em>?”</p><p>“I didn’t want to worry you. I knew you were sad because your brother didn’t make it out and well, I was sad Damon and Bonnie didn’t make it out so I used that to fuel the advice and all that… I guess I didn’t want you to worry about me.”</p><p>“You let me rant and rant about murder and death and the entire time you were dealing with losing your best friend— Alaric, <em>I’m sorry</em>…  you’ve been hurting this entire time—“</p><p>He cut her off. “Hey, it’s fine, Hilda, I promise. I’m okay. And if you want to help then I will have you help me with a few things, okay? While I see if Matt’s up for a meeting tomorrow, I think he was busy today.”</p><p>She nodded quickly. “Yes, I’ll help you with anything. What is it that you need?”</p><p>“One, a training buddy. Elena’s been having me help her but I feel bad because I can’t actually train myself simultaneously or I’ll kill her on accident. And she’s so depressed after what happened… not to mention Stefan went off on his own and only interacts with me through phone calls… I just want a good, intense physical training session with someone of Original caliber. Two, I need to learn self-control. I’ve been struggling with smelling blood all the damn time and I’m about to start teaching a class that’ll have over fifty students each period. So please… that’s what I need.”</p><p>Hilda was more than happy to comply.</p><p>After she went to the nearest store to get herself some leggings and a workout top, Alaric drove the two to a nearby deck by the lake, nearest the edge of Mystic Falls. </p><p>They sparred for hours. Neither could tire out, and Hilda was more than happy to teach him many of the things she knew about fighting. Alaric was much stronger in his Enhanced Original state, but Hilda was more experienced, and without him being bent on killing her, she was a better match than last time.</p><p>“I have to say,” he panted when evening hit and they walked back to his car, “that was probably the best cardio workout I’ve had in years.”</p><p>“Glad I could help,” she said. “We can do it again tomorrow. Now, I think we ought to work on the blood aspect.”</p><p>He seemed nervous about this. “Right— right now? I’m tired. That’s not a good idea.”</p><p>“We’re just going to have a chat about it. We both know that you don’t like being a vampire. In fact, you hate it. So the prospect of having to drink human blood is very unsettling. Some of us are far too bloodthirsty for our own good. Kol, for example, struggled a lot with his bloodlust. No matter how quenched his hunger was, he wanted more. The slightest drop of blood riled him up, brought out his true face. What we need to do is have you get control of that true face. Those dark veins under your eyes. They should only be coming out when you want them to.”</p><p>“How were you possibly able to learn so much self-control?” Alaric inquired. “If you were spending all your time with a brother who <em>couldn’t</em> control it…”</p><p>“I learned to control it by getting in the mindset that I was the one that had to control <em>him</em>. I couldn’t lose it or we would both get in trouble. I want you to think about that, just a little bit. Think of Elena, who’s grieving immensely, who doesn’t want to be a vampire either. You’re the closest thing she has to a parent and you want to make sure she’s okay. So one, everytime you feel that hunger, think before anything else— where is Elena? Do I need to be worried about whether she’s going to be okay? Is someone in imminent danger of her losing control? This initial worry will counteract your impulses and keep your true face hidden.”</p><p>Alaric nodded, still catching his breath, though he’d already physically recovered by then. “Right. What next?”</p><p>“One scenario— Elena is around. You’ll be driven to make sure she doesn’t lose control and your bloodlust will be overthrown by the worry. But in the case that Elena is nowhere around and you are conscious of the fact that you are the only vampire in the vicinity, you need to stop and listen. Listen to the beating of the hearts. You, who want to be human, should be thinking— ‘I want my heart to beat like that. I want, one day, to be just as vulnerable. Just as alive as them.’ You’re going to feel guilty about what you thought of doing. And this small amount of guilt will be enough to keep you from attacking anyone. You should rely on that want to be human. Appreciate human life.”</p><p>She then put her hands on his chest. “Listen to your own heartbeat. It’s strong. Your entire body is strong. When my mother turned you into an Original, she made you resistant to White Oak. You are at the top of the food chain. And though you’re a better version of my siblings and I, we have one major thing in common— we can survive for quite a bit of time without blood. So no matter how hungry you think you are, you can always wait. And you need to tell yourself, ‘I’ll get past this. I can survive without blood for a bit longer. I don’t need blood to survive. I am an Original. I will be okay. I can focus on something else.’ Now, I know you’ve been drinking from blood bags and you’ve been doing a good job of taking them cold. Know that you are allowed to warm them up a bit. You said Elena’s working at the clinic— don’t worry about needing more. There are blood bags in other states, in other cities. You will never run out of blood bags. There will always be more.”</p><p>She took his hand. “Next, I want you to drive us somewhere with a lot of people. To practice.” </p><p>Alaric raised an eyebrow. “Does it only have to be for practice?”</p><p>“Well, not necessarily, you can choose somewhere fun if you’re bored.”</p><p>“No, I just mean… do you want it to be a date?” </p><p>Hilda found herself blushing. “Sure. It can be a date.”</p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda was most certainly not dressed for a date.</strong>
</p><p>Alaric had given her his jacket to wear over her workout clothes. It was warm and comfortable, but it did not go that well with the green leggings she had chosen. </p><p>He drove them to a nearby shopping center where there was ‘a very nice Italian restaurant you need to try.’</p><p>She giggled when he said it. “Sure, alright.” She refrained from mentioning that she had been all over Italy in the past and knew about the most authentic types of food.</p><p>The place had been filled with people when they arrived. She noticed he tensed, but it was clear that her advice had stuck in his head. He looked around, then closed his eyes, and he didn’t flinch when a waitress walked up.</p><p>“Table for two?” she asked. She must have been around nineteen. Hilda could hear a very steady heartbeat, and with the bandaid on her finger, it seemed she had recently gotten a papercut of sorts. Alaric could clearly smell the lingering blood, but he looked into the girl’s eyes and smiled cordially. “Yes, please.”</p><p>The waitress walked off, and they followed. “Good,” said Hilda proudly. “That was a very good start.” She pursed her lips and whispered, “Another thing you can always do if you think you have the strength to do it, is first aid. Concentrate on healing. After all, our blood can heal. I always try to do first aid when there’s too much blood. As you know, I don’t feed my blood to anyone, ever, but you can choose that as an alternative, no matter who it is. You can overcome that hunger with worry once again and use the blood to fuel you to use yours for good. Only if you want, obviously.”</p><p>Once they sat down and were able to order their drinks, Alaric leaned forward across the booth. “When you say you’ve never fed anyone your blood… you mean <em>never</em>?”</p><p>She nodded. “Never. I didn’t like the idea of condemning someone to the same fate as me. And most times, I was the one doing the injuring. Other times, well, I didn’t care enough to try and heal anyone that way. I’ve known some very basic first aid and I use that especially when it’s a bunch of innocent people and the damage was done by some other party. But I just… I don’t know, the idea of sharing my blood and healing someone… no one’s been important enough for me to do that.”</p><p>“If I were human,” he said, drumming his fingers against the table, “and I were about to die, but your blood could save me…”</p><p>“I’d give it to you without blinking,” she answered immediately. “I just would. It’s a risk and I know that but you’ve died already and there was nothing I could do. But if you ask if I’d do it for anyone else… your answer would be no. Another reason I’m a terrible bitch.”</p><p>Alaric made a face. “That doesn’t make you a bitch. You just prioritize different things. You keep trying to make me see you like some monster straight out of Greek mythology but I don’t see you that way.”</p><p>Hilda raised a curious brow. “What do you see me as?”</p><p>Alaric smiled and leaned a bit further forward. “If I were to see the goddess Aphrodite,” he mumbled, “she would have your face and personality, exactly.”</p><p>She felt a blush rising to her face, and she cleared her throat, sitting back as the waitress set down two glasses filled with wine. Hilda immediately took hers and drank. The waitress suspected nothing. “Are you all ready to order?” she asked sweetly.</p><p>They did, but Hilda stuttered quite a bit. When the waitress left, Alaric started to laugh. “When was the last time someone complimented you?”</p><p>“The— the personality bit,” she stammered, trying to stop feeling so flustered. “I haven’t had someone say something so positive about that in a <em>really</em> long time. I know I’m a pessimist, I know that I’m really hard to like because I’m always being negative and obnoxious.”</p><p>“Are you kidding me? You could never annoy me. You make the best type of morbid jokes. And there’s this fire about you. I like that. You’re brilliant, hard-working, you don’t take anyone’s shit and you always fight. You’re not someone who gives up, not even when faced with danger. And if someone takes you down, you don’t just go with the flow, you go down fighting.”</p><p>Hilda calmly moved the wine glasses to the side. Alaric seemed to think she wanted to arm wrestle or something, because he moved one hand up, but instead, she leaned over the table and grasped his shirt, pulling him in for a hard kiss.</p><p>His hand moved its way up to her cheek, cupping it as he kissed her back. They nearly knocked the wine glasses over, but Hilda could care less.</p><p>Their meal was enjoyable.</p><p>They hardly spoke after the kiss. They were both fairly red in the face and spoke only of the food, the things they liked about it, and how they could acquire more breadsticks and marinara sauce. </p><p>The drive back left Hilda eager to steer the conversation in another direction. She had wanted to kiss him. But she also knew that they were heading to his apartment, and she didn’t want to lead him on thinking she was going to continue.</p><p>“So, how else can I help?” she asked, leaning back in the seat and trying to breathe as normally as possible. “You did really well on controlling yourself— there were a lot of people in there. We did the training… the advice for control… tomorrow, you said Matt is coming to meet us…”</p><p>Alaric seemed to understand that she was nervous, and he followed her lead without needing to be prompted. “Well, we do want to lower the spell that’s keeping us out of Mystic Falls. We just don’t know how. My research is getting cut short with having to teach. Stefan… well, he’s trying to stay away and he’s giving up on ever getting Damon back. Jeremy, Matt, and Elena aren’t doing too well, either, and Caroline’s been a big help with the research, but she hasn’t found anything after months of searching. I was thinking, the brutal reality without having a witch is that none of us would even understand a hint if we found one. Caroline might have already read over the answer but how much can a vampire really understand about magic unless they’ve studied it for their entire life.”</p><p>Hilda grinned. “I see where this is going. My expertise is coming in handy.” She cracked her knuckles. “Let’s see, there are many ways that spells can be taken down. One of the most common ways is to get a Coven of witches to counter it. Those types of spells are hard, and one witch would very rarely be able to do it alone. Not to downplay Bonnie’s power— I know she’s talented— but even if she was here, this isn’t something she could do. Taking into consideration how powerful the Traveler spell is, you’d need either a really big and special Coven of witches, or a Coven that practices darker magic. Obviously, this is not going to be easy to do. No Coven will be willing to try it because that kind of spell could have terrible side effects. There are dark objects that can be used to suck the power, but I haven’t got access to the ones Kol and I made. Either way, I don’t know if they would work on a spell of that magnitude. There’s transfer spells to transfer that spell somewhere else, but that doesn’t really do anyone much good. There are illusion spells that can weaken the spell, but that’s not making it a reality. The last option is something pretty rare— having someone siphon it.”</p><p>Alaric frowned. “Siphon? What is that?”</p><p>“It’s like sucking magic out. There are witches that are born without the ability to do magic on their own. Basically like… Squibs from Harry Potter, except they can do magic, they just need to first take that magic from another source. They need to make physical contact with either a magical being or a magical object and they need to pull that power out before they’d be able to do magic. Most siphoners never realize that they have that ability, because unless you lose your temper, no one knows that they have that ability. It’s happened a few times over the centuries. I’ve met some siphoners from other Covens, but they’re usually killed or hidden away or shunned because that type of ability is perceived as evil. I never quite understood that— it’s not their fault. It’s like any other genetic mutation. But since siphoning does hurt someone, it’s made out to be a terrible thing. I don’t even think there are siphoners left alive anymore. I’d need to search.”</p><p>“But you did know some,” Alaric said as he parked at his apartment complex. “How?”</p><p>“There is this Coven that seems to continuously be cursed with siphons. That’s not the only place that it happens, but for some reason, the Gemini Coven always gets siphoners every once in a while. Like I said, most are eradicated in some way. I’ll need to do some research but if there is a siphoner out there, and I find them, then that’s our answer.”</p><p>Alaric whistled in disbelief. “Wow. I never would have found that out if you didn’t tell me. I’ve studied a lot about the Occult but I’ve never heard of siphoners.”</p><p>“It’s not a proud thing for a Coven to admit when they find out one of their members is a siphon. It’s kept very hush hush. There are so many other things to talk about when it comes to magic, so why would they speak of something they found terrible?”</p><p>“That does make sense. I’m telling you, I need you to be a guest speaker for one of my lessons.”</p><p>They reached the door and he unlocked it. “I haven’t gotten the deed signed over to anyone, so you’re free to come in,” he told her, stepping aside to let her in.</p><p>She looked around at the way he had set it up. “I like it!” It was a studio apartment. There was a kitchen with an island that had the stove on top, as well as the sink. He had a television set and a couch on the other side of it, next to a little coffee table where he had several books set out. Of course, there was a massive bookshelf and some plants and paintings along the wall. One door indicated a bathroom, and aside from that, his closet had nothing to conceal it from view. She could see several shirts and jackets hung up, with pants folded on a rack beneath it, shoes lined up at the very bottom. His bed was at the center of a beige wall, with nightstands on either side that had some more papers and lamps on them.</p><p>“Sorry, I didn’t expect you were going to come today,” he told her, picking up some stuff that was on the floor. “I’ll change the sheets so you can have the bed—”</p><p>“Nonsense, I can sleep on the couch,” she said. “I don’t mind. It’s already so kind of you to let me stay at your place instead of by myself somewhere. Your couch looks comfortable.”</p><p>“Hilda are you sure—?”</p><p>“Of course I’m sure. Besides, I wouldn’t want to trouble you with having to make preparations for me. I bought some extra clothes for myself when I got my leggings today, so all I would even need is a towel.”</p><p>“A towel?” he said, confused. </p><p>She laughed lightly and took off the jacket of his that she’d been wearing. “Yes, a towel. I want to shower and not put my stinky self on your couch.”</p><p>“Oh, of course, I was distracted thinking about what blanket to give you and I for some reason thought you meant to use the towel as a blanket.”</p><p>She raised her eyebrows. “I’m quite willing to try that.”</p><p>“Don’t be ridiculous, I have proper blankets and extra pillows for you.”</p><p>She watched him move around trying to clear most of the surfaces they might need— like the kitchen counters— before bringing her a thick quilt, a blanket, and a towel. “Let me show you how to use the water,” he told her, beckoning for her to follow him into the bathroom.</p><p>Of course, before he let her step inside, he quickly shoved several things into the drawers. He rummaged for a bit under the bathroom sink and pulled out some shampoo bottles. “I know this is probably not what you’d usually like to use for your hair, but—”</p><p>“Alaric, don’t worry,” she said as he let her step inside. “It’s okay. You’re acting like the Queen of Scotland came to do a bloody house inspection.”</p><p>Alaric smirked. “Well, I have a queen of sorts in here.”</p><p>Hilda found herself blushing all over again as he drew back the curtains and showed her which knob was for hot water, and which one was for cold. “Need anything else?” he asked, fixing the mat at the bottom so she wouldn’t slip. </p><p>“That’s all,” she said softly. “Thank you. I’ll be out quickly, I promise.”</p><p>She didn’t take her time showering, as she usually did. Instead, she cleaned herself quickly and got out, drying herself off before getting dressed in the pajamas she had prepared for herself.</p><p>She came out to find Alaric was fixing the couch cushions to make it more like a bed. “You’re pampering me too much,” she teased as she set her clothes in the plastic bag she had. </p><p>“You deserve it,” he said simply, before nodding to where he’d cleared the coffee table and set down several bottles of bourbon. “You can start drinking, if you want. I’m going to take a shower, too, but I’ll be back soon.”</p><p>He went in, and Hilda’s phone chimed. She looked down to see Rebekah had sent a video of Hope. Hilda smiled and played it.</p><p>The little girl was wiggling facedown on a blanket on the floor, gurgling and trying to learn how to push herself up properly. “Yay!” came Rebekah’s voice. “Show your Aunt Hilly how strong you are, that’s it.” Hope squealed and let herself roll onto her back, kicking her legs and giggling as Rebekah continued to record. “Say, ‘Aunt Hilly, when are you going to bring your boyfriend to meet me?’ Go on, Hope, I’m sure you can say it by now, knowing how often she talks to you as if you’re all grown. You’re still our little girl, though!”</p><p>The video ended, and Hilda sighed, replaying it just for fun. Hope was such a joy to have. Truly, she did make Hilda see the child population in a better light. Her niece reminded her so much of Henrik. Curious and sweet. Hilda had been young when he was born, but she could still remember how he would fall asleep in her arms and how she would walk around with him and Kol, the twins talking normally and letting Henrik listen.</p><p>Alaric came out and Hilda had to stop the video from playing a third time, texting Rebekah back and saying, ‘He’s not supposed to know, Bex’ before shutting her phone off.</p><p>Hilda had forgotten, for an instant, that Alaric was an Original, too. She had been confused as to why he was looking at her phone, but then she realized that he had probably heard what Rebekah had been saying in the video.</p><p>He figured it out pretty quickly. “I’m not going to say anything to anyone,” he told her reassuringly as he came to sit beside her. “I wondered… why you and Rebekah wouldn’t be in New Orleans if they lost the baby, but I guess I had just convinced myself that you were grieving too, in your own way. This makes a lot more sense. This entire time, you’ve been protecting her.”</p><p>She nodded slowly and opened her phone again to show him the pictures she had of Hope. “She’s darling,” she sighed, smiling fondly as she looked down. “I don’t like children, but she’s got a special place in my heart. I know why Bex wants to be human so bad, now. It does seem kind of nice to be able to raise a baby. She thinks it’s strange for me to say it this way— but you really do get to customize your child if you have one. Dress them up and teach them important things and try to make them the best versions that you can. Teach them to be kind and strong…”</p><p>“You’re a wonderful influence for her,” he said very seriously. “I can’t say I know your siblings as well as I know you, but… Hope is going to have one very badass aunt to look up to. Someone who will teach her all about protecting herself.”</p><p>Hilda poured them drinks. “I like the idea of just being an aunt. If Rebekah has kids of her own later, somehow, I like the sound of that. Helping out but not having to constantly be around them. Do you want… kids?”</p><p>Alaric shrugged. “I mean, I was an only child and I got all this attention from my parents. I had a pretty good childhood, honestly, and it was kind of instilled that we’re here in this world to procreate. Gotta love religious teachings… I think the idea of being a father is nice. I like the idea of having a family. Why is that you don’t want kids?”</p><p>“When people ask me that, my automatic answer is that I find them annoying. They can be very strange… tiny humans without a fully developed brain. They’re cute, but when they’re someone else’s. Honestly, though, I think I’m terrified I’m bringing them into a problem. This world is bloody terrible. Why would anyone want to bring a kid into it? Especially with my family, Hope will never be safe. She will be powerful and she will learn a lot, but to what expense? How many people will she see die? Will she watch Klaus mutilate someone? Will she have to see Elijah, Rebekah, and I kill for her to life in peace? </p><p>“Esther was alright when I was growing up, but Mikael was incredibly abusive. Mostly to Klaus, but he’d hit Kol and I, too. I told you about the nightmares I had of him. Not to mention that now, Esther wants to kill Hope from beyond the grave. Klaus speaks of breaking that cycle and that’s all fine and dandy when you say it, but deep down, we’re not the best people. I’ve been paranoid every day that I’ll hurt Hope without realizing what I’m doing. I can’t have children of my own, obviously, but if I were to adopt, would I just make them more miserable? Dragging them into Mikaelson drama? What if I’m a shitty mother? I don’t want to hurt any child the way I was hurt. It’s such a risk.”</p><p>“You’re not your parents,” Alaric mumbled. “You are a separate person and from what it seems like, you could be a wonderful mother. All I’ll say is this— don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with. Sure, it’s good to try new things but what matters most is your mental health and if a kid won’t help with that, then don’t have one. That’s your choice and your choice only.”</p><p>Hilda leaned over and pressed her lips against his cheek. He turned toward her and caught her before she could pull away, kissing her on the lips again. She let out a soft moan as he pulled her onto his lap, gripping her hips and holding her close to him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing her tongue forward. He opened his mouth and she slipped it in, but his tongue had already been waiting to try and restrain hers. </p><p>She found she wasn’t as nervous as before. She certainly trusted him. She felt him starting to grow aroused and her heart skipped a beat. He knew she’d noticed but he didn’t speak on it, letting her make the decision. He didn’t move his hands from her hips to not make her uncomfortable.</p><p>She pulled away and rested her forehead against his. “I want to,” she said shakily. “B-But I’m still scared, Ric. I-I know you won’t hurt me but…”</p><p>“It’s okay,” he told her gently. “No pressure.”</p><p>“I feel bad…”</p><p>“Don’t. I’m not angry, Hilda, I would never want you to feel pressured into doing anything you don’t feel safe doing. We can just kiss if that’s what you want, I don’t mind. You can choose. I won’t hold anything against you.”</p><p>She let out a soft sigh. “If… if you’re sure you’re okay with just kissing… but if not, we should probably just go to sleep.”</p><p>He smiled, and it put her at ease. “Yeah, I’m okay with just kissing.” </p><p>She slept like a baby that night. He hadn’t made her feel like she was obligated to give him anything. Though she knew (and could feel) he probably needed some type of relief, he didn’t speak of it, worried only about whether she felt alright. He was satisfied with how she moved her lips over his neck. She didn’t bite him, but he wouldn’t have minded if she did. All that mattered to him was that she felt comfortable, and she had, indeed, felt safe in his hold.</p><p>She hadn’t even ended up sleeping on the couch. He had picked her up and taken her to his bed and the two had fallen asleep, tangled together in a comfortable embrace. It had been a long time since Hilda slept next to someone, but it had been very soothing to feel his arms around her, rubbing her back gently to help her drift off.</p>
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<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>When she awoke in the morning, he was already awake and making them breakfast. </strong>
</p><p>After brushing her teeth and getting dressed, she looked in the cupboards and set out the utensils they will need. “Good morning,” she said quietly as she passed him. </p><p>“Good morning,” he told her, smiling as he started to serve some eggs, avocado toast, bacon, and freshly squeezed orange juice. “How did you sleep?”</p><p>“Very well,” she told him. Once they sat down, he cleared his throat. “So, Matt will be coming in an hour. Are you ready?”</p><p>Hilda nodded. “Of course. I can’t imagine Kol was very nice to him, but getting to see his face again will be really good. Thank you, for arranging this.”</p><p>“You’re very welcome,” he replied as they began to eat. “If there is anything else I can help you with, please, let me know.”</p><p>“You’ve done so much already,” she sighed. “I feel bad.”</p><p>“Don’t feel bad. I want to be good to you.” He pecked her on the cheek.</p><p>After their breakfast, Hilda helped to do the dishes while Alaric swept. Matt arrived soon after, and Alaric let him in.</p><p>“Hi,” he said, half-smiling to Hilda. “Er— how’s Rebekah?”</p><p>“She’s doing good,” Hilda told him as she went to sit on the couch. Matt offered her his hands. She took them, and entered his mind. </p><p>She was Matt, and she had just woken up in the Mystic Falls Cemetery, a blue-ish hue around the area she was in. She turned to her right and saw a man with sunken eyes. “Can you see me?” she heard Matt say. The man nodded. “Are you a witch?” He shook his head. “Then how?”</p><p>She faced left when a new voice greeted her. She saw Kol, leaning against a tree. He looked just like he had the day he died, though his hair seemed to have been cut. “It’s all topsy-turvy over here, darling,” said Kol to Matt. “But… I’ve got to say, it’s good to be seen.” He started to walk closer. “I’ve only managed to enter my sister’s dreams twice. And now, I’m trapped in this godforsaken city.”</p><p>Matt must’ve been confused when this happened, because Kol furrowed his eyebrows. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember me. Kol, Original vampire, murdered pointlessly by Jeremy Gilbert. You were quite friendly with my sister Rebekah. I have a twin sister who fancies your history teacher.”</p><p>“Yeah, I know who you are,” Matt told him as he got to his feet. “I thought the whole point of this place was to live out your afterlife in solitude. Why can I see you?”</p><p>“Well, apparently, there’s trouble in paradise,” said Kol, crossing his arms. “The rumblings from the witches is that somebody tore his way out of here, and now this whole place is unraveling. Not that that matters to you. You're just on holiday, which means you're going back.”</p><p>Matt faced away from Kol, suddenly looking around. “Vicki…”</p><p>“Never heard of her,” said Kol.</p><p>“She’s my sister. She's over here. If I can see you,then that means I can see her.”</p><p>Kol made a face. “Well, good luck with that.” Before Matt could leave, he stopped him. “I… I do hope that you will find her. I’d give anything to speak to my sister again.”</p><p>Matt nodded and began to run. Hilda looked through his eyes and listened to him call out, frantically trying to find Vicki Donovan. She was nowhere to be found, and the scenery seemed to be a repeating illusion, just as it had been in the Lafayette Cemetery. “How am I back here?” he muttered.</p><p>But then, he froze. Someone had called his name. Matt turned around and Hilda saw a thin brunette walking out of the trees and toward him. “Matty, I’m here,” she told him.</p><p>He ran to her, and they embraced. In the real world, Hilda was tearing up, her eyes closed as she held onto Matt’s hands. Alaric seemed worried that something was wrong, but a look from Matt let him know that everything was okay.</p><p>“I’m here now,” Hilda heard Matt tell Vicki. “It’s okay.”</p><p>She shook her head. “No, listen to me— it’s not okay. Something's wrong. Look at this place. Matty, you need to get to your body and go back.”</p><p>The earth began to rumble beneath them, and a massive gust of wind threatened to knock them down. Matt held his sister’s hands tightly as it tried to rip her away. “I’m not leaving you, okay?” he yelled to be heard over the wind. She let go of him to try and encourage him to leave her. “We're getting out of here. Take my hand.”</p><p>“Matt, no!” she said, moving away.</p><p>“Take my hand!” he demanded. He grabbed hold once more and began to pull her through the forest, the wind howling behind him. She stumbled and fell to the floor. The wind lifted her into the air and Matt desperately tried to hold on. “I won’t let you go!”</p><p>Vicki tried to get him to let go. “Matt, I love you… but I’m already dead.” She wrenched her hands out of his grip and screamed as her body flew into the air, disappearing over the tops of the trees.</p><p>“VICKI!” yelled Matt. “VICKI!”</p><p>But it was too late. The wind and the shaking stopped and he sank down onto his knees. Time seemed to move fast through the memory, as Matt didn’t need Hilda to see him crying for several minutes.</p><p>“All right, then,” came Kol’s voice, making Matt look up. “Mourning time over. Chip-chop. Not to be insensitive, but she was already dead. Little bit of a grief overkill, don't you think?”</p><p>Matt gulped. “Where'd she go? Did she move on? Did she find peace? Because it certainly didn't look like that.”</p><p>Kol had an almost pained look in his eyes. “I don't know where she went, and honestly, I would love to never find out, which is why I need you back in your body, shouting from the rooftops about what happened here.”</p><p>“It doesn’t matter,” said Matt. “When I go back, I'm not gonna remember any of this.”</p><p>Kol grabbed him by the shoulders. “Well, you better find a way to remember it.” He then let go, stepping back and looking slightly guilty. “Look. You might not like me, but I'm not the only one over here, and if this place goes down, then what happened to your sister is going to happen to us all. Please, mate, you have to go back. You have to find out how to stop this.” He started to cry. “I will never be able to see my sister again if you don’t find out how to stop this.”</p><p>Matt looked at him, and the image of Kol faded as he woke up, back in his body.</p><p>Hilda let go of his hands, breathing shakily. She brought her hands up to cover her face, trying to calm herself down.</p><p>“He thought only of you,” mumbled Matt, hoping to bring her some comfort. “He cares a lot about you, Hilda.”</p><p>She trembled and nodded to show she heard him, her face scrunching up as she started to cry. “H-He’s… he-he’s gone… I can’t… I c-can’t get him back…” She forced herself to look at Matt. “Thank you… for coming.”</p><p>He nodded respectfully and looked up at Alaric before leaving. Alaric sat down beside her as he heard the door close, and pulled her into his arms, rubbing her back as she cried into his chest.</p><p>“I f-failed him,” she managed weakly. “I w-was supposed to f-find a way to b-bring him b-back… I was too late… the Other S-Side fell apart…”</p><p>“You didn’t fail him, Hilda,” he whispered, stroking her hair. “You will find a way to bring him back. I will help you in any way that I can, I promise.”</p><p>She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “I could really use a training session right now…”</p><p>He complied. They got dressed again and drove back to the lake. They spent another several hours sparring. Hilda took out her anger, and Alaric simultaneously learned a few tips that could come in handy in an actual fight. </p><p>They returned to his apartment sweating again. Hilda felt better, but she was clearly just distracting herself from having to feel.</p><p>“I can cook us something,” he offered as she came out of the shower again. “Or we can order takeout.”</p><p>“I can cook,” she offered, needing to keep her hands busy. She went to the refrigerator and looked around. “How does meatball stew sound? It was cold today.”</p><p>“That sounds amazing. Are you sure you don’t mind cooking?”</p><p>“I need to do something or I’m going to snap.”</p><p>Alaric nodded. “Alright, well, I’m going to shower, so I’ll be back soon.”</p><p>Hilda felt alleviated with the fact that he didn’t pressure her into explaining her feelings. He listened to what she needed and showed that he was there for her in other ways. When he’d finished showering, he came to help her, silently passing her the utensils she needed.</p><p>Unfortunately, that didn’t mean she wasn’t having an existential crisis. Her mind was wandering back down into a spiral of self-hatred and doubt. She diced the vegetables and thought of all the times she had failed to do something important. All the times she didn’t fulfill a promise to Kol. They were usually small things like her not locating an item he wanted. But even so, she felt like a terrible sister.</p><p>When they were eating, it became very clear to Alaric that she was most certainly not okay.</p><p>“Hilda,” he said gently as he watched her continue to stir her spoon in her bowl, staring at it but not eating anything. “Do you need to talk?”</p><p>She looked up and put on a fake smile. “No, I’m alright. I just like to let the soup cool down.”</p><p>“I get that,” he said, trying to relate. But by then, he was done with his food, and she hadn’t touched any of hers.</p><p>Hilda began to eat, but it seemed like she was forcing herself to do it, just so that he would think that she was alright. Alaric went to get them some bourbon while she finished, and cleared the dishes when she was done. She went to sit on the couch, rocking her body gently as if someone was lulling her like a baby again. </p><p>He sat beside her and offered her a glass. She took it and drew a gentle sip. “Why do you even like me?” she murmured. “I can’t fathom why someone as good as you would be into someone like me.”</p><p>“Who said I was good? I’ve done bad things.”</p><p>“Alaric, you’ve beat people up for good reasons. You’ve killed lesser vampires that have threatened the people you care about. I’ve torn families apart. I’ve acted like a Ripper without being one, just because I thought it would be interesting. I’m sick in the head. It’s been over a year since I lost my brother and I was useless in that time. I found nothing that could have saved him, and he’s gone. I was being stupid and vacationing instead of researching.”</p><p>“Everyone heals in different ways. You wouldn’t have found anything if you forced yourself to search right away. You needed to find out how you fit into the world again, without him. No one blames you, Hilda. You’ve gotten past trauma that most people can’t. I will always say to you that I think you’re a wonderful person.”</p><p>She set the glass down. “But why? I’m just… ridiculous. I can’t open up and I push people away. I haven’t made an effort to stay here with you, I keep telling you about how I intend to leave— I’m selfish. I can’t even be intimate without wanting to cry. You deserve better than that.”</p><p>Alaric frowned. “Hey, don’t say that. I don’t think you’re weak because of that, Hilda. That’s not what relationships are about. The last guy was an idiot for using you the way he did. But I promise you, I don’t want you just for your body. And you’re not selfish. You came and have helped more than anyone. You’re intending to go to New Orleans to help your family. That’s something incredibly selfless. I hardly speak to my cousins and parents because being around them doesn’t bring me much comfort. <em>That’s</em> selfish. I haven’t cared to include them in my life even though they raised me. I care more about the fact that I feel better when I’m away from them. I ignore the fact they probably would like to get a text from me. Did you know that they never knew I was dead? I didn’t make the effort to try and get someone to contact them. You’ve been doing your best to protect your family for centuries. You have your ups and downs but you always return to help them. Hell— Klaus has daggered you so many times and you have his back. You’re protecting his daughter and now, you’re going to help him make the city safe for her to return. That’s noble. You’ve done bad things, sure, but who hasn’t? I don’t think that merits being called a monster. Because at the end of the day, you set all of that aside to be kind to me, to your siblings, to Hope. You think you’re some sort of demon but you’re an angel to me.”</p><p>She started to cry and shook her head. “Stop,” she said weakly. “Alaric, stop it…”</p><p>He took her hands. “You’re scared. I know that. And I will be patient, I will wait as long as it takes. I <em>like</em> you, Hilda. I <em>care</em> about you. And if you don’t want a relationship right now, that’s okay. If you do, that’s okay too. If you want to be together and not sleep together until fifty years from now, that’s okay as well. I want to be with you.”</p><p>Hilda pulled her hands away, shaking her head and grabbing onto her temples. Her mind was betraying her. It was telling her that this was not safe. That she needed to end this to avoid pain. What if Alaric got hurt again and she couldn’t save him? She had already failed to save Kol. She might not even be able to protect Hope properly.</p><p>“Ric, please,” she said, standing up. “You have to forget about me. I can’t compel you to forget but you have to.”</p><p>“Why should I have to?” He stood up and faced her. “I don’t <em>want</em> to. You think I don’t know the risks? Your brothers don’t like me. Your sister is the reason I died. Your mother turned me into what I am. But I don’t <em>care</em> about any of that. I don’t want to lose the chance I have with you.”</p><p>“I’m a monster!” she exclaimed. “I will hurt you! I’m going to torment you every day with my stupid pessimism— you haven’t had to live with me for more than a day, Ric, I’ll drive you insane! I will never be nice to your friends, it’s not in my nature to make friends! My nature is murder. If any of them bother me, I will forget everything and I will <em>kill</em> them!”</p><p>“I trust you, Hilda. You won’t hurt them and you won’t hurt me, I know that!”</p><p>“You want to be human!” she said louder. “I don’t! How can that ever work? You like the idea of kids, I don’t! I’m going to always be holding you back. Sure, maybe you can tolerate me calling the shots about other things but this? You hate being a vampire but if I want you to be one, I know you’ll want to make that sacrifice for me!”</p><p>“Yes, I will, and I won’t care if it means I can be happy with you—”</p><p>“You shouldn’t have to do that!” she screamed. “You shouldn’t have to set aside what you want in life! What happens if we do get together, Alaric? Do you know what will happen when you marry into the Mikaelson family? When our enemies find out that you’re with me?”</p><p>“I’ll rip them to pieces!” he yelled back, not sure why he was yelling. Probably only because she was. “I’m an Original too, I’m not fragile, and I know that I’d be signing up for being part of Klaus’s family which obviously isn’t the safest thing but I don’t care. If being a Mikaelson is going to get me into trouble, then at least I get to be with you.”</p><p>“Do you hear yourself?” she said. “Are you crazy? You’re going to miss out on everything you want out of life because of me! What happens when the resentment settles in? What happens when you start to realize how much you hate always having to help Klaus with things? What happens when you start hating that Elijah always tries to control what our family does? What happens when you get absolutely sick of being a vampire and you realize that you can’t ever go back and change the course of your life? And if you become human, somehow— my brothers will end you if you ever oppose them! I’d— I’d have to watch you die!”</p><p>“Human, vampire, I don’t give a damn, Hilda!” he snapped. “I don’t give a damn if I have to be a Mikaelson! I’ve already weighed all the options! You’re terrified, and I fucking get it— I would be too if this was the other way around. You always talk about how people who associate with your family get hurt and the fear you feel makes sense, but I am willing to risk it. You and I have something special, something that doesn’t happen all the time. Maybe you don’t think so, but I think that that day that I met you in the Grill was something that was <em>supposed to happen</em>. And you might think that’s cheesy but I spent years with someone who left me the instant the opportunity to be a vampire arose. You’ve listened to all this crap about my life and you’ve made me feel like I matter. Me, some random guy who two years ago was just some regular history teacher from Mystic Falls.”</p><p>“And look what happened! My brother possessed your body! My mother ruined your life! My sister is the reason you were lost! Not to mention Kol, Elijah, and Finn have all caused their share of trouble. I’ve— I’ve beaten Damon for literally no reason. I can’t control myself! I switch moods and I ruin things that are good, that are precious.”</p><p>She moved forward and continued to cry as she weakly pressed her fists into his chest. “I just want you to be happy, damn it, and that can’t happen if you’re with me. I’m not going to be around. I’ll never want to live here, Ric. New Orleans is my home. It doesn’t matter how much I want you or how much you want me. You deserve better. I don’t deserve the kindness you have shown me. You need someone normal, someone who can give you the family you want and who will be there for you when you inevitably find a way to be human again.”</p><p>“Family doesn’t mean we have to have kids, Hilda, please, I’m begging you, don’t do this,” he whispered, holding her face in his hands. “I want you. I know you want me too. Please…”</p><p>Hilda pulled back. “No. No, we can’t. We’ll hardly ever see each other in person. And I don’t want you sacrificing your dreams for me. I don’t want you to get hurt. I’m never going to be able to please you. I’ll never be brave enough to open up completely and I will always revert to cruelty. I will aggravate you and make you regret all of it. I am a psychopath. That won’t change. I can’t love you the way you deserve to be loved. <em>Please</em>. Find someone good and be happy. That’s what I want for you.”</p><p>Alaric swallowed hard. He had teared up too. “Because I care about you,” he whispered, “I respect your choice. Do you hear me?  <em>Because I care about you, I respect your choice.</em> I don’t want to break this off. I don’t want us to be strangers again. I don’t want to force you into anything. So I will let you go, even if this isn’t what I want. As much as I would rather fight for your affection, I won’t do it. Not if you’re never going to reciprocate it. I know that you want to. But I’m not going to make you feel like I’m trapping you here. So go. If you want to go, go. Know that I will always be here. I don’t care if you come to me in one year from now or if you come in ten or one hundred. I don’t want to move on, Hilda.”</p><p>“I want you to move on,” she whispered back.</p><p>He stepped back as she started darting around, collecting all her things. “I’m sorry for wasting your time,” she told him, shoving everything in her bag carelessly. “I shouldn’t have led you on. I shouldn’t have…”</p><p>He caught her before she could walk out the door. “I don’t want us to stop being friends,” he whispered.</p><p>She gulped. “Then we won’t stop being friends. But it can’t be more. It can’t. You need to move on. You need to be happy. With someone who isn’t me.”</p><p>She walked out the door and almost immediately she began to sob. Alaric wanted to run after her, to beg her one last time to stay, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to change her mind. She was too paranoid that she would hurt him, so she sped up the process and left him standing in his doorway, longing to follow after her.</p><p>She cried the entire way back to Rebekah’s house. When she arrived, it was the middle of the night, and Rebekah made her way downstairs, finding her sister crying and shoving bagels into her mouth.</p><p>“Hilly,” Rebekah said in surprise. “I didn’t expect you back so soon. What… what happened?”</p><p>Hilda was crying far too much to be able to tell her. Rebekah had to enter her mind to see what had happened, and immediately, she became sad. “Oh, Hilly,” she whispered, pulling her into a hug.</p><p>Not even Hope could have brought her any joy. The next day, Hilda was too distraught to speak to her. She changed her diaper and got straight to packing her things, ready to return to New Orleans.</p><p>Rebekah had immediately let their brothers know that Hilda was to return. They didn’t want her to feel obligated to, but there was no dissuading her. She needed a distraction, and hearing that the full moon was approaching and that the Guerrera Pack needed to be taken down, she wasn’t about to sit back much longer.</p><p>She bade Rebekah and Hope goodbye and was on a plane within the hour. She made her way straight to the Compound, and found Elijah and Klaus already in conversation.</p><p>“The inertia is killing me,” Klaus grumbled. “I need to act. I-I-I need— I need to spill blood.”</p><p>“Well then,” said Elijah as Hilda crept over to join them in the study. “You’ll  be pleased to know that I've located the last of the twelve rings forged with your blood.”</p><p>Klaus perked up. “Then, it’s time!”</p><p>“Yes, brother,” said Hilda, walking through the doorway. “It certainly is.”</p>
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<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Klaus moved to hug her immediately.</strong>
</p><p>Hilda squeaked as he pulled her into his arms. “It’s nice to see you too,” she said, awkwardly patting his back.</p><p>“Well?” he said when he drew away. “Are you… alright?”</p><p>“I don’t really want to talk about it,” she said honestly. “Let’s get to work. Once things calm down, I can show you and Hayley all the pictures I have of my niece.”</p><p>Klaus offered her a smile, but Elijah held up his hand. “Speaking of, I am concerned about Hayley.”</p><p>The hybrid’s smile fell. “She looks well enough.”</p><p>Elijah frowned. “She looks no better than you, brother. Now, if the two of you would treat each other as more than just... passing acquaintances—”</p><p>“She has you for that,” said Klaus.</p><p>“Sadly, like the father of her child, she prefers to fight her demons alone.”</p><p>Hilda crossed her arms. “Do you mean to tell me that this whole time, you two haven’t been bonding or anything?”</p><p>Klaus threw his hands up. “Was I really expected to sob into her lap?”</p><p>“No, but you could have at least let her know you’re there for her!”</p><p>“She knows that! We live in the same bloody house! I’m the only other hybrid in the world!”</p><p>“Nik, that’s not the same as approaching her and telling her that you’re going to support her. You two lost your kid and hid away from public view to sell it. You’re hurting and you could be there for each other.”</p><p>Klaus was no longer listening. He seemed to be focusing on another noise. The two vampires stopped as the hybrid sped out of the room. From the courtyard, they could hear Cami’s voice. “Hello? Klaus?”</p><p>They could distinctly hear Klaus moving around, but he didn’t seem to have approached her. The blonde was moving around trying to see if anyone would approach her. Obviously, Klaus was not up for a chat. Elijah and Hilda moved toward the hallway as they heard Cami climbing the stairs. </p><p>“Klaus, I know you’re here somewhere,” she said aloud. “We need to talk.”</p><p>Elijah and Hilda stepped out from the room, speeding toward where Cami was at the top of the stairs. “He doesn’t wish to see you,” Elijah told her.</p><p>Cami, of course, was startled, and flinched. “Elijah,” she gasped. “Hilda… where the hell did you come from?”</p><p>Elijah was unamused. “I beg your pardon? Aren't you the one who is trespassing?” He paused. “He doesn't care much for conversation these days. And, he certainly wouldn't care for the fact that you've put yourself in danger by coming here.”</p><p>Cami looked frustrated at his reaction. “I'm already in danger. I have Guerreras following me like it's a police state. The city's being run by gangsters, and you guys aren't doing anything about it. Marcel took them out a hundred years ago without any of you. Don't you think he might be up for lending you a hand?”</p><p>Hilda shared a look with Elijah, but neither sibling made clear what they were thinking. “Thanks for stopping by, Cami,” said Hilda smoothly. “Just a small favor— no one need know I’m back in town yet.”</p><p>She nodded, clasping her own hands. “I know your family is grieving. But I know you don't believe those rumors that Marcel killed the baby. So, if you want help taking down the Guerreras, you have a weapon across the river just waiting to be fired. Use it.” She left back down the staircase and exited the Compound.</p><p>Hilda leaned onto the railing. “I like her spirit,” she mumbled.</p><p>Klaus appeared on the other side of her. “So do I.” He paused to think. “Perhaps I ought to speak with Marcel.”</p><p>“Do you think that to be wise, brother?” inquired Elijah.</p><p>“Camille is right. He’s a weapon waiting to be fired. Hilda, might I interest you in accompanying me?”</p><p>She nodded. “Better than being stuck here. Might as well see if we can come up with anything. I want to kill someone.”</p><p>“And so you shall,” said Klaus, taking her arm and speeding her to Algiers, where they arrived at Marcel’s loft, seeing him and Josh walking in.</p><p>“My money’s on the rocker chick,” they heard Josh saying. </p><p>“I wouldn’t bet on it,” said Marcel. “We'll be lucky to get one from that group.”</p><p>“How can you tell?” asked Josh as the siblings walked to the door. “They all seem tough, what are you looking for?”</p><p>There was a pause and the sound of liquid being poured. “I'm not looking for tough guys, Josh. I'm looking for warriors.”</p><p>“What’s the difference?”</p><p>“A warrior fights for what they believe in,” said Klaus once he and Hilda were visible through the doorway. “A warrior fights for his family.” He offered Marcel a smile, and the younger vampire reciprocated.</p><p>“Come in,” said Marcel, even though they didn’t need an invitation. “I assume you came to discuss how we’re going to reclaim our city?”</p><p>“Naturally,” said Klaus. Josh gave Marcel a skeptical look. “Er, I’m gonna go.” He waved at Hilda before speeding out. Klaus found this funny. “Ah, that Joshua…”</p><p>Marcel poured each of the siblings a drink. “Hilda. What brings you back to town?”</p><p>“Sick of waiting for the right time,” she said with a shrug, taking the glass he offered her. “I like it too much here. Never can leave for very long without wanting to come back.”</p><p>Marcel raised his eyebrows. “Last I heard, you were in Virginia with a guy.”</p><p>Hilda hummed. “Which of your vampires did you send to spy on me, Marcel?”</p><p>“None. One happened to see you when they went to help their cousin move into her new dorm at Whitmore College.”</p><p>She grumbled and sat down on his couch. Klaus, to her surprise, piped up, “Now, really, Marcellus, are we going to bash the bloody Guerreras in the head or gossip about my sister’s taste in men?”</p><p>Marcel held his hands up in surrender before pulling out a board game. He and Klaus began to play silently at first as Hilda drank, trying to distract herself by watching them.</p><p>“The wolves have the numbers,” mused Marcel as he moved one of his pieces. “Back in 1925, the Guerrera pack was maybe a hundred. We went guerrilla warfare on their asses and wiped them out over a four day fight.” Klaus took his turn, and Marcel followed. “But, we're not just talking about Guerreras now. They've had wolves coming in from packs all over.”</p><p>“Well, we don’t have to hit them all,” said Klaus. “Only the twelve with the rings that take me out every full moon.”</p><p>Marcel made a face. “Wait, you want to find twelve rings? Go out and chop off the hands of every wolf you find 'til you get what you want! I mean, come on! You taught me that.”</p><p>Klaus smiled and moved a piece. Hilda let out a small chuckle. “It’s not that simple.”</p><p>“Why are you all stalling?” asked Marcel. “I mean, it can’t be a coincidence that Hilda arrived only now. What is it that you’re worried about.”</p><p>Hilda laced her fingers together. “The night the baby… you know… the White Oak stake that Klaus was saving went missing. If it’s in play with them…”</p><p>“The very thought of it makes me nervous,” muttered Klaus. “Especially on nights such as these.”</p><p>Marcel narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why would you tell me that?”</p><p>“Depends,” answered the hybrid. “Do you have it?”</p><p>“Of course not. That kind of weapon does me no good. You die, I die, along with every vampire we've ever sired.”</p><p>Klaus and Hilda both visibly relaxed. “Well, then, perhaps you’d like to help us get it back?” asked Klaus. “We attack the wolves, tonight, when the moon hits its apex. They won't expect it while I'm weak.”</p><p>The conversation came to a pause as they heard someone enter the loft. One of Marcel’s vampires came in. “Hey,” he said to Marcel. “Bad news or good news?”</p><p>Marcel laughed and stood up. “Klaus, Hilda, this is Joe. Joe, Klaus and Hilda. Now, you want to talk Guerreras, nobody fought harder back in 1925 than Joe, here. Fought so hard he retired into retail. Been keeping the peace ever since, and living right under their noses.”</p><p>Joe sighed deeply as he sat down on the couch beside Marcel. “Yeah, well, good news is, your order came in this morning. And bad news? I got made. Your friend Davina saved my ass, but what's done is done. So, pour me a drink, and play me a song, because it's gonna be my last.”</p><p>Marcel handed him a drink. “Joe, don’t be dramatic. Just head out of town ‘til things blow over.”</p><p>Jose shook his head. “No way. I don't run from Guerreras.”</p><p>“You don't leave, you won't have to,” said Marcel. “They'll sniff you out in a day.”</p><p>“Hey, let them come hunt me down,” Joe replied. “‘Cause I’ve had a good ride.”</p><p>Klaus leaned forward over the table. “Then how would you like to get back in the fight, Joe?”</p><p>Joe was clearly interested. “So, what do you have in mind?”</p><p>Klaus stood up. “I’ve been thinking about this whole thing the wrong way. The Guerrera pack loves to hunt. They're primal, alphas. I gave you my reason for not making a move these past few months— what, pray tell, is theirs?”</p><p>Marcel and Hilda smiled at the same time. “They don’t have the stake,” said Hilda as Marcel went serious. “Well, then who the hell does?”</p><p>“Tonight, it doesn’t matter,” said Klaus. “Because tonight, we’re going on a wolf hunt.”</p><p>Joe clapped his hands. “What are we doing then? How can I help?”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “They’re paranoid. That much, we know. It’s a risk, but we could tip them off about the stake fear.”</p><p>Klaus nodded. “Yes… I like that. Have someone give them information… say that that is why we have not made our move. They will try to seize me once they realize what’s going on, because if they acquire it, they will be able to kill me.”</p><p>“We need a backup plan for that, though,” said Hilda. “Chances are, whoever has the stake has it cloaked with spells. No witch they find in the next twelve hours will be able to uncloak it in time. Meaning that they will need an additional piece of information.”</p><p>“The building they were trying to tear down,” muttered Marcel. “Elijah is working on preserving it… it has a sprinkler system and I’ve been put wolfsbane in there, trying to catch them off guard. We could lure them there, saying it might be there. I’ll douse them in wolfsbane and chances are, we’ll get some rings off.”</p><p>“They won’t fall for that if the same person tells them to go,” said Klaus, rubbing his chin. “Someone else would need to lead them there.” He wove his hand in the air. “We will determine that later.”</p><p>“I can go to their place,” offered Joe. “The Guerrera wolves are already at my shop. I can hand myself over to tell them about the stake, and you all would just need to tell me where to lead them. If we get someone else to help us, they can get the wolves to that building.”</p><p>Klaus beckoned for Hilda to get up. “I will contact you with the details,” he said to Marcel and Joe. “We must speak to Elijah. Sit tight. Tonight, we demolish them.”</p><p>The two Originals made their way back to the Compound and located Elijah, who had just been speaking to Hayley. The newer hybrid was upstairs in the shower.</p><p>“We have a plan to get rid of the Guerreras,” Hilda announced. </p><p>Elijah raised his eyebrows. “And what, pray tell, have you decided on?”</p><p>Klaus smirked. “We have the Guerreras where we want them. We have them waiting, we have them worried, and now, we know they're an army with no defenses against an Original.”</p><p>Their elder brother frowned. “We don’t know that for certain.”</p><p>Klaus shrugged. “I’m willing to gamble.”</p><p>“It’s too risky!” said Elijah. “We know for certain that they seek to kill you, Niklaus. They do not mind the consequences of wiping out another entire sireline. In fact, who do you think they will target first? Our sister! There are no sirelings to be lost and if they take her from us, they will be able to distract us enough to subdue us. That stake didn’t just disappear, someone has it.”</p><p>“Elijah,” said Hilda, coming closer to him. “We’re dealing with this little by little. One enemy at a time.”</p><p>“After all, in the end, we’ll slay the lot of them,” said Klaus, shrugging once again. “Tonight, we just have to plant the right seeds, and for that, we need help. Marcel and his vampire comrade Joe are going to assist us.”</p><p>Elijah understood what he meant. He went upstairs and returned with Hayley, who had her arms crossed as if not amused. She nodded courteously to Hilda but then stared at the two brothers.</p><p>“We’re taking the twelve original rings,” said Elijah. “Now, four of them sit on the hands of the Guerrera brothers. One on Oliver, one on Francesca, three with the home security detail, and the rest scattered amongst her lackeys. Now, each ring is distinguishable by its setting— gauche, like those that wear them.”</p><p>Klaus drummed his fingers on the table. “If they believe they can get their hands on the stake, they will come for me when I am weak. Each ring you retrieve will strengthen me, but I will still be at a disadvantage.”</p><p>“Ergo,” said Hilda, “any hope of success depends on whether we actually work as a team.”</p><p>Elijah turned to Hayley specifically. “The two of you can no longer afford to retreat to separate corners.”</p><p>The younger hybrid looked over at Klaus, who stood and moved toward her. “This is our fight,” he said. “Are you ready for battle, Hayley?”</p><p>“Just promise me that Francesca doesn’t come out of this alive,” she mumbled.</p><p>Klaus cast her a smile. “Her head will be delivered to you on a silver platter, little wolf.”</p><p>Elijah nodded and adjusted the buttons of his suit. “I'll deal with the last piece of the puzzle. Tonight, we strike.”</p><p>All was ready as the moon rose into the sky.</p><p>Elijah had gone to ask Cami for her help. Joe would go to his shop and have the Guerrera werewolves take him to where Francesca and her brothers were staying. He would tell them about the White Oak stake being M.I.A. and when they inevitably asked him for more information, he would tell them that the stake might have landed in the hands of Father Kieran. The wolves would go to Cami, and she would send them to the Olmstead Foundry Co., where Marcel would be waiting to cover the werewolves in wolfsbane. Josh would assist him in locking them in. Hayley and Hilda would linger in the Compound while Klaus, in his weakened state, waited in his art room for his strength to return.</p><p>It was an advantage for them that no one other than those forming part of the plan knew that Hilda was back in town. As the moon hit its apex and wolves began storming the Compound, they were greeted with a surprise.</p><p>Hayley and Hilda had been waiting in the shadows as Oliver led in a large group of wolves. He motioned for them to split, and Hilda sped out to be in front of them, wearing her pajamas. “A little late for a party, isn’t it?” she inquired, leaning back against a nearby pillar.</p><p>It was too late for the wolves to change their minds. They launched at her, but this time, she as ready. Those who had already ran into the hallways to locate Klaus were located by Hayley. Hilda had an easy time snapping their necks and spines, leaving bodies all over. She sped around finding any who had rings and ripping them off of their fingers. She sped up to the balconies when she was done on the courtyard level, and found two female wolves about to ambush Klaus. She thrust her hands into their chests, yanking out their hearts and then tossing them over the railings to the ground.</p><p>Hilda was just taking a second to relax as she heard two loud grunts from inside the study. She found Klaus had taken down two wolves with paintbrushes, and was now painting on a canvas with their blood. “Excellent,” she said, putting her hands on her hips and pulling out her phone to text Elijah with an update. “It’s arts and crafts time.”</p><p>Klaus chuckled darkly. “As I was saying to Elijah before you arrived this morning, the color I was missing on my palette was the blood of my enemies.”</p><p>“Such an artist,” she said, flopping onto the couch.</p><p>Elijah arrived within ten minutes, cleaning his bloody hands off with a handkerchief. “I’m still not at full strength,” Klaus told him. “Which of the rings are unaccounted for?”</p><p>“Only one,” said Elijah. “I must say, the brothers fought valiantly before Ms. Guerrera escaped.”</p><p>Klaus and Hilda immediately went rigid. “You let her get away?”</p><p>Elijah smirked. “Not exactly. I let Hayley… finish up.”</p><p>When the younger hybrid returned, it was confirmed, in fact, that Francesca Guerrera was dead. She slapped down the rings she had collected onto the nearest table and stormed off.</p><p>The next morning, Hilda took charge of destroying the kyanite stones to break their link to Klaus. She spent the remainder of the day ignoring anyone and everyone, because she was not in a mood to speak about what had happened with Alaric. Thankfully for her, Klaus was occupied with actually speaking to Hayley, and Elijah was focused on not talking to her, for some reason.</p><p>Hilda lay in her bed that evening after tiring herself with studying Esther’s grimoire to prepare herself for what might come. She held her phone in her hands, flipping it back and forth in her palms, wondering whether she should succumb to her impulses.</p><p>Alaric was the one that called her. She answered immediately, then awkwardly paused, realizing she didn’t know what she wanted to say. “Hi,” she said after a minute.</p><p>“Hilda,” he breathed. “Hi. Are you feeling alright?”</p><p>“I’m fine,” she lied. “You?”</p><p>“I’m okay. Um… started teaching today. First class went pretty well. I was completely in control of my hunger. Went to chaperone an event… felt normal.”</p><p>“Good…” she sighed. “I’m sorry. For everything. I wasted your time. I just hope you find someone that will treat you better than I did…”</p><p>“You didn’t waste my time. Don’t ever say that about yourself. Maybe we can only be friends, sure, but what we had wasn’t something I want to forget. Like I said… I will wait for you.”</p><p>Hilda bit her lip. “You shouldn’t have to. I’m never going to be ready for something like that.” She cleared her throat. “Tell me something about the um, event you chaperoned.”</p><p>“Um, well, it was a regular college party, you know, so kids were drunk and trying to start fights as is customary for students right as the semester starts up. I stopped Tyler Lockwood from beating up one of the students who’s a witch. One of the doctors at the clinic asked me for a drink from my flash but it had blood in it, so I had to lie and say I was a germaphobe.”</p><p>She let out a light laugh. “A germaphobe? That’s clever.”</p><p>“Well what else was I going to do? Let her drink from it? She had just been talking about how she doesn’t eat red meat because she looks at blood all day.”</p><p>“Sounds like her average day is a vampire’s dream. Though, of course, vampires would struggle quite a bit being doctors. Especially if they didn’t have really good self control.”</p><p>“She’s definitely not a vampire, that’s for sure. But I did get this… feeling. Like there’s something supernatural about her.”</p><p>“Perhaps she’s a werewolf that hasn’t triggered her gene.”</p><p>“Mm… no, I don’t think so. She was too calm for that. At least, the werewolves I know who haven’t triggered their gene are really temperamental.”</p><p>“That’s true. Maybe she’s a witch.”</p><p>“You think? I don’t know why a witch would be working as a doctor. There was nothing that I’d pinpoint as magical. Just… vaguely supernatural.”</p><p>Hilda felt herself smiling as she heard him talking about someone else. It was stupid— this was a random interaction that probably meant nothing. Yet, despite how much pain it brought her to know that she had cut him off so impulsively, it was comforting to know that he would be okay. He was safe from her. Hilda was so afraid that she would bring him harm and at least, if she wasn’t constantly at his side, she couldn’t hurt him. </p><p>“Hilda?”</p><p>She didn’t realize he’d been asking her a question. “Sorry,” she whispered. “What is it?”</p><p>“I hope you’re doing well. No matter what, I will always care about you.”</p><p>She rubbed over her chest. That had made her heart hurt a bit. “And I will always care about you,” she murmured. “Which… which is why I had to let you go. I would lose my mind if I hurt you in any way. I want you to be happy even if it isn’t with me. Please understand that I didn’t seek to bring you pain when I broke things off.”</p><p>“I understand, Hilda. You’re trying to protect the both of us. As much as I want to be with you, it makes me feel better to know that I’m not making you feel like you’re trapped in a situation that makes you uncomfortable. If you ever… think that you might want to give it another shot… I will be here.”</p><p>“Thank you,” she said, now starting to tear up all over again. “See? I… I don’t deserve you being so nice about this. I was so cruel. My insecurities are always getting in the way.”</p><p>“Hilda, you deserve the world, and I will give you that someday, no matter how long it takes.”</p>
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<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda felt much better in the morning.</strong>
</p><p>She awoke to peace and quiet. She couldn’t hear Klaus or Hayley at all, but there was a distinct sound of something being sipped— probably Elijah, and probably tea.</p><p>After a calm shower, she got dressed and went to find her brother in the library, reading and sipping tea, as she had predicted. She only waved at him to show that she was awake before going down for breakfast. She didn’t compel the servants this time, and made herself something in the kitchen, eating slowly before returning to find Elijah still reading.</p><p>“So where are the two hybrids?” she asked as she sat beside him.</p><p>“I imagine Niklaus has taken Hayley on an adventure of sorts. Where, I don’t know. But they’ve been gone since earlier this morning. I expect we’ll find them returning covered in blood.” He closed the book carefully after marking the page he was on and faced her. “And how do you feel?”</p><p>“Decent. I spoke to Alaric, and it felt… like I have some sort of closure. It’s clear he still wants something between us but it really isn’t a good idea. I don’t want to risk hurting him.”</p><p>He pulled her into a side hug, allowing her head to lean on his shoulder. “You, my dear sister, are too kind for your own good sometimes.”</p><p>“I am not,” Hilda huffed, making a face even though he couldn’t see it.</p><p>“You are. But if you do not wish to discuss it, I won’t push it. Just know you have every bit of freedom to be with that man, if you so wish.”</p><p>Hilda sighed. “I don’t think Nik would like that. He was jealous, thinking Rebekah cared more about Marcel than him even though that’s not something you can compare. We’re just starting to get close again after everything. He’s not going to like the idea of me being with Alaric. He’ll say cruel things to him every time he sees him. He’ll threaten him and make him feel like he has to constantly look over his shoulder. I understand that you, as our elder brothers, are protective of Rebekah and I, but you’ve never been this overbearing. You trust that we will make a good choice and if we don’t, we learn that lesson ourselves when our heart gets broken. Nik is just… insufferable.”</p><p>Elijah rubbed her back. “I believe Niklaus is most afraid that you will be hurt and that he’ll see in hindsight that there was something he could have done. Some way he could have prevented the pain.”</p><p>“Alaric wouldn’t hurt me. Even as an Original, he’s so gentle. He’s been so understanding about my past trauma and hasn’t pressured me into anything. He has the strength to overcome me, and he knows that, but he let me make decisions and respected every choice I made. That… that’s not something a lot of people do anymore. And I feel like an idiot for pushing him away but I’m not ready. Things will go wrong. I know it. I’ll say or do something and it will be unforgivable. I’d rather we be friends who could have had something than enemies who had something.”</p><p>Elijah kissed the top of her head. “Whatever choice you make, sister, we will support you. And if Niklaus attempts to give you grief, I will put him in his place myself. After all, he does wish for you to be happy. He can step aside from being the protective older brother. Alaric is not a bad man.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled and sat back up. “Well, I’m going to go into town. See what I can do to occupy my mind because I can’t sit here with a book and be so calm when there are other things to do.”</p><p>“Get yourself some clothes,” said Elijah. “Indulge. You haven’t yet filled your wardrobe. Occupy your mind with crafting outfits you’ll enjoy.”</p><p>She smirked. “That’s a good idea. I’ll pick out clothes that’ll bother Nik.”</p><p>“Ah, you see, Niklaus no longer has to worry about what you and Rebekah wear. Feel free to be in a crop top as much as you’d like. With a daughter in mind, I would assume he has transitioned to overprotective and worrisome father rather than brother.”</p><p>Hilda took this as a chance to actually let herself find something nice. She had yet to try on the latest fashion. She’d been keeping to jeans and regular blouses or jackets whenever she wasn’t wearing dresses. But she rather liked some ‘grunge’ things she found, as they were called. She did, in fact, spend the entire morning loading shirts and pants and accessories into bags and slipping money across the counters of the small business she found. She refused to go to any of the bigger stores and stuck to the smaller establishments that needed more support.</p><p>As she was walking down the street, she saw Davina walking toward her, alongside a boy with curly dirty blond hair and blue eyes. He was much taller than Davina, even as she wore some high-heeled boots. Davina was waving her hands as she spoke rapidly to the boy, who looked quite interested in what she had to say.</p><p>The young witch stopped as she saw Hilda trying not to hit the passing dogs with the bags handing off her palms. Davina looked a bit alarmed, which seemed to make sense since Hilda was still a Mikaelson before anything else. But she offered her a smile and waved, recalling the kindness the Original had shown her.</p><p>“Hey, Davina,” said Hilda patiently, in too good of a mood to be snappy to anyone, even for fun. “See you’ve got yourself a nice little friend now.”</p><p>Davina blushed, and the boy stared at Hilda in disbelief. The Original made a face at him. “I’m sorry, is he mute?” she asked bluntly.</p><p>“Oh, no, I’m not,” said the boy, extending his hand to her. He was still looking at her rather intently, which made Hilda raise an eyebrow as she greeted him. “Er— I’m Kaleb. Kaleb Westphall.”</p><p>Hilda raised her eyebrows and smiled a bit. “Westphall… I knew some of your ancestors back in the 1900s. Lovely people. I assume you’re a witch?”</p><p>He didn’t answer right away, like there was something else he wanted to say. “Oh, yeah, I am,” he said. Davina seemed to be a bit jealous, probably thinking that Kaleb found her more attractive. Neither woman knew that Kaleb was really Kol, and he was wondering whether he ought to pull his sister aside and reveal his identity to her. “Um, sorry, I was told the Originals were… scary.”</p><p>Hilda let out a dry laugh. “Make no mistake, darling, I’ll tear both your livers out without much effort. But I’m having a personal day today, and I’m not really in the mood for violence.”</p><p>Davina frowned as Kaleb let out a soft laugh. “A personal day, eh?” he said teasingly. “Certainly not what I expected to hear, lass.”</p><p>“It’s either that or be stuck at home moping about,” she said, noticing that Davina’s fists were balled up. “I really ought to get going back.”</p><p>“Is it alright if you give me your number?” asked Kaleb. Surely he could schedule a meeting with his sister in private without Davina there…</p><p>Hilda held her hand up. “Woah there, darling, you’ve got a lady next to you, that’s no way to act.”</p><p>Davina seemed grateful for this. “And she’s got a boyfriend,” she blurted out.</p><p>Hilda decided to play along. “That I do,” she lied. “You’ve got a pretty one here, cherish that.”</p><p>Kaleb turned red. “I’m sorry— I didn’t mean as in I’m romantically interested in you or anything. I mean to chat. You said you knew my Ancestors and there are a few questions I have about… my past. I recall hearing that you were the only one of your siblings that respected witches.”</p><p>“We should go,” said Davina abruptly, tugging at Kaleb’s arm before Hilda could answer. “I’ll give it to you. See you, Hilda.”</p><p>She dragged him away, and Hilda stopped to listen.</p><p>“What was that?” demanded Davina. “I told you already, you can’t trust Originals. She may be nicer than her siblings but I hear she’s the most psychotic one.”</p><p>“Come on, love, I’m just trying to branch out, it doesn’t mean anything,” said Kaleb. The familiarity of how he worded this phrase made Hilda furrow her brows. “I promise, the only one I’m interested in is you. I would never fancy any of the Originals, that would be very wrong and terrible. Especially not one like Hellish Hilda Mikaelson. I like witches best.”</p><p>Hilda wondered if perhaps she was hallucinating. Kaleb looked back over his shoulder at her and smiled, and she was left stunned. He reminded her so much of Kol. She and Kol had known several Westphall witches in the past. Kaleb even <em>sounded</em> like Kol with how he spoke. She had never known anyone other than Sage and Marcel who called her ‘Hellish Hilda.’ Her siblings knew about that, of course, but aside from that, it wasn’t really how she was known around the world. Most knew her as the ‘Original With No Sireline.’ </p><p>She thought perhaps she was just imagining it. She missed her brother too much. She was still distracting herself so that she would feel no more pain. In reality, the pain of Kol’s loss still felt very fresh, even more so now that she knew the Other Side had collapsed and she hadn’t been able to save him. Yes, that must be it. </p><p>She spent the rest of the day trying to forget what’d happened. She didn’t want to overthink it. After procuring a delicious meal from a street vendor, she returned to the Compound and found no one was home. She decided to occupy herself further with trying on her clothes and then washing them. Once her laundry was done, she hung it up and spent an hour cleaning her room. She peeked into each room as she roamed around, looking for something else to clean. The busywork kept her mind from wandering.</p><p>In the evening, her brothers returned, and they looked very unsettled. Hilda went to find them in the wine cellar, where they had already begun to have a conversation without her.</p><p>“What’s happening?” she demanded. “I want to know, too.”</p><p>Klaus rubbed his forehead. “It is worse than we thought, sister.” He took a bottle and broke the neck off of it before taking a large gulp. “I met the witch, Cassie. I studied her— her presence, the way she carried herself, the fervor with which she voiced her hatred of our kind. I looked into that girl's eyes, and, I swear to you, Elijah, she's not just guided by our mother. She is our mother.”</p><p>Hilda’s mouth dropped open. <em>“What?”</em></p><p>“I’m going to kill her,” sneered Klaus. “I will boil her bones and feed them to the dogs, if that's what it takes.”</p><p>Elijah frowned. “Niklaus—”</p><p>“What?” snapped the hybrid. “What could possibly be more important than the return of our mother?”</p><p>Elijah sighed. “Our father.” The two siblings went rigid as Elijah continued, “I saw him standing there in the flesh as you do now. He was enslaved with some spell cast by Davina. He holds the stake. If she chooses to release him…”</p><p>“What the bloody hell?” said Hilda. “I— I saw Davina today with this boy, he called me by a nickname not many know me by. Do you think—?”</p><p>“I don’t,” said Elijah, shaking his head. “I saw Mikael in his true form. And I highly doubt Davina would let him prance around in broad daylight in the form of a teenage boy.”</p><p>“Well,” said Klaus, setting down the bottle he was drinking from. “Then there's only one question we need to ask, isn't there? Which of our parents do we kill first?”</p><p>Neither Elijah or Hilda was able to answer. There was noise upstairs and they all shared a look before speeding up to the courtyard, where Hayley was leading several Crescent wolves in. “Take any of the rooms on the first floor,” she told them, motioning for them to go look around.</p><p>Klaus walked toward her. “Are we running a kennel now?”</p><p>“I’ll handle them,” promised Hayley.</p><p>“Our family is under siege,” said Klaus pointedly. “It is not the time for guests.”</p><p>Hayley crossed her arms. “If they're not with us, they're with the witches. You asked me to step up. This is me stepping up.”</p><p>Klaus smirked proudly. “Well, it seems I'm a good influence on you after all.”</p><p>Hilda walked up to join them. “So, I’m guessing these are all the wolves not aligned with Cassie, also known as Esther?”</p><p>Klaus held up a finger as Hayley nodded. “I don't see Oliver amongst them. Am I to assume you finished him off?”</p><p>“We made a deal,” said the younger hybrid. “He'll pledge his loyalty to Cassie, report back, and tell me everything that he learns.”</p><p>This excited Klaus even more. “Well done!”</p><p>“You’re lucky I cleaned today,” said Hilda, watching the wolves offer to be each other’s roommates to not take up too many rooms. “At least the place is clean…”</p><p>Klaus chuckled at this and walked off, probably to drink. Hilda patted Hayley on the back and chose to go to her room so that she wouldn’t be in the way while the Crescents tried to find their rooms.</p><p>But a while later, Hayley knocked on her door. “Can I come in?” she asked quietly.</p><p>Hilda opened it for her and beckoned her inside. “Everything okay? Do they need supplies? I think we have enough in the laundry room.”</p><p>“No, it’s not that. They’re fine. They’re… really happy, actually. It’s Elijah.” She sat down on Hilda’s bed. “He just left. Said the presence of them here is ‘too much.’”</p><p>Hilda frowned. “Well, that’s weird. It’s strange, I admit, I’ve never had to live under the same roof as so many wolves, but I don’t mind it. Elijah’s… just Elijah. I don’t understand him. To be honest, we may get along better now but we don’t know each other well enough. I can try to talk to him.”</p><p>Hayley shook her head. “No, don’t. He looks at me so differently ever since I turned into a hybrid. Like… I disgust him or something.”</p><p>“Trust me, he’s not disgusted by you. Whenever one of us is in some sort of crisis, he always pulls back because he knows he can overwhelm us trying to give advice.”</p><p>“I think… that’s probably it. He was trying to remove the things from Hope’s room and I got so mad… he must think I’m just going to snap whenever he does anything.” She sniffled. “Can I see the pictures again?”</p><p>Hilda immediately unlocked her phone and opened the camera roll. “Here you go. Take as long as you need. I promise Elijah still fancies you. Trust me, it’s the first time in a very long time that I’ve seen my brother look at someone the way he looks at you. He’s out of practice and trying to keep the family together and he can be dismissive. That’s no excuse for his behavior. Be honest with him about how this makes you feel. He’ll always be willing to hear you out.”</p><p>Hayley half-smiled as she swiped through the pictures of Hope, gazing at the innocent little face of her daughter. Though she contained her tears, it was clear that she was getting very emotional.</p><p>She suddenly pushed the phone back into Hilda’s hands. “Phone call for you,” she said. “Thanks.”</p><p>She sped out and closed the door behind her. Hilda saw Alaric’s name on the screen and found herself smiling.</p><p>“Hey,” she said as she picked up. “How are you?”</p><p>“To be honest, not so good. I think I did a bad thing… but for what I perceived to be a good reason.”</p><p>She furrowed her eyebrows. “What happened?”</p><p>“Elena was… using these herbs to hallucinate Damon. And now that she can’t have them anymore, it was tearing her apart. She asked me to compel the memories away so that she wouldn’t feel pain. And I did. I made her forget she loved Damon. I-I just thought it was going to help her. She was crying when she came to me and she’s like a daughter to me— how does a parent tell their kid that they won’t help them when they’re hurting? So… I erased everything. I shouldn’t have done it.”</p><p>“Ric, she was the one that came to you for help. You did what you felt was right to ease her suffering. That doesn’t make you a bad person. I wouldn’t have ever done that to myself but since it went so poorly the last time she turned off her humanity… this felt like a better alternative. You were helping her. Don’t feel bad about that.”</p><p>“Damon was my best friend. And I didn’t even think of him when I wiped the slate clean. He loved her so much and now, she’s not going to mourn him. That feels so wrong. I didn’t tell anyone else because Elena didn’t want me to. But… it feels like a shitty thing to have gone through with. I should have compelled her to go to a therapist and process her emotions properly. I should have talked it through with her, since Stefan isn’t there, and we both are grieving the same person. But instead…”</p><p>“Hey, don’t talk down on yourself for helping someone. You respected her wishes, and that’s what matters. And if at any point, you think that she needs to have those memories back, you can have her remember them again. It’s okay.”</p><p>He sighed into the phone. “Thanks. I appreciate it. Hearing your voice… it helps.”</p><p>She found herself smiling. “Yeah, of course. I’ll always be here for you.”</p><p>“Anything interesting happening on your end?”</p><p>“Well, it seems my parents are back.”</p><p>
  <em>“What?”</em>
</p><p>“I don’t know how or why but Klaus met Esther, possessing the body of one of the Harvest girls. The one I told you has been helping the wolves. Then Elijah came across Mikael.”</p><p>“Hilda, you have to get the hell out of there. Come back to Whitmore or go back with Rebekah— you can’t be there.”</p><p>“I can’t just leave, Ric. This is something my siblings and I have to deal with together. I’m not going to leave when it gets tough. No matter how much I fear Mikael, I can’t give up. This is a fight we have to be in together.”</p><p>“You said the White Oak stake is missing. If Mikael—”</p><p>“He already has it.”</p><p>“All the more reason to get the hell out! Get Rebekah, get the baby, and get out of the country. I can even ask around for some witches that might be willing to help or you can contact that Creole Coven in Colorado. It’s not safe for you, Hilda. Mikael will rip you to shreds. You’ll be his first target to get Klaus out of that Compound.”</p><p>Hilda rubbed her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere. I can’t. It’s safer I don’t go anywhere. There was this boy today— he called me something that only my siblings and few others know me by. I’m willing to bet that was Finn. We almost died because of him, of course he’d come back in another’s body just to help my mother. It can’t be a coincidence that the only woman he ever turned is the one that came up with the nickname ‘Hellish Hilda.’ He was the first of us to die, Esther certainly found him and he followed along like the sycophant he is. If that is Finn, he’s in the body of the witch, and for all I know, he could have put a tracking spell on me when we shook hands. If I leave the city, he could know exactly where I go and I’d jeopardize Rebekah and Hope.”</p><p>Alaric didn’t seem to like this, but he sighed in defeat. “Fine. But if you need help, please, don’t hesitate to call me. I’m still an Enhanced Original, I can help. I can be the weapon you need to go against your mother.”</p><p>“Esther is the one who made you what you are. She can corrupt you again if she deems fit. You’d become an evil alter-ego version and she’d use you against us. Stay in Mystic Falls where it’s safer. Please.”</p><p>“I don’t like the sound of that, but fine…”</p><p>“Just— let’s talk about something else. Have you seen that doctor again?”</p><p>“Um, yeah, I did, Elena is one of her interns at the clinic.”</p><p>“What’s she like? Is she pretty?”</p><p>“Are you trying to set me up with someone you’ve only ever heard of?”</p><p>“So what if I am? Answer the bloody question.”</p><p>Alaric chuckled lightly. “Yeah, she’s pretty. Still haven’t determined if she’s supernatural or not but she was a medic in the army, so she’s pretty intelligent. She won an award for inventing something, too. Her name is Jo, I don’t yet know what that’s short for but it could be like Josephine or something.”</p><p>“Invite her on a date. Have you talked to her?”</p><p>“I did today, I found a very hungover Jeremy Gilbert needing some medical attention and she um, she flirted with me.”</p><p>“That’s good! That means she’s interested in you. Did she do the thing where she very quickly looks you up and down?”</p><p>“Yeah. I only caught the movement because of the heightened senses but otherwise I don’t think I would have noticed it.”</p><p>“See? It’s going fantastic already.”</p><p>“Not to mention that now that Elena’s not mourning Damon, she seems to have the idea of setting us up.”</p><p>“Even better. I might have to give Elena a prize for this.”</p><p>Alaric hummed. “Yeah, maybe. Listen, I have to go, there’s this cornfield maze thing that I need to chaperone for and it’s not today, but I have to go and work on the people setting it up so I can be ready to make sure no one is being stupid and reckless on the day of the event.”</p><p>Hilda laid back in her bed. “Alright. Goodnight, Ric.”</p><p>“Goodnight, Hilda.”</p><p>A silent tear slipped down her face as she hung up, wishing that she hadn’t broken things off between them, but simultaneously knowing that it was for his safety.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>When she got to the courtyard for lunch the next day, Hayley was enjoying some grapes.</strong>
</p><p>“So, which restaurant’s missing a compelled chef?” she asked as the three Mikaelson siblings made their way toward her from different parts of the house. There was a giant array of fruit and baked goods on the table of the courtyard, with one medium sized platter covered with a silver lid near the edge.</p><p>Klaus furrowed his eyebrows as his sister looked at him, thinking this was his doing. “It’s certainly a card I've played in the past, but I had no hand in this…”</p><p>“I didn’t do this,” said Hilda. “No offense to any of you but I don’t care about having such bountiful breakfasts. A bagel is sufficient for me.”</p><p>Hayley pursed her lips and looked up at Elijah. “Well, then, I guess we have you to thank?”</p><p>He was equally confused. “This wasn’t my doing…”</p><p>Hayley frowned. “Then, where did this all come from? There’s no way the wolves—”</p><p>She flinched as the silver lid began to rattle, as though something was inside of it. Hilda was the first to step forward, pulling the lid off. She jumped back as two starlings fluttered out and flew to the roof of the Compound. Where they had been was a piece of folded parchment.</p><p>“What the hell was that?” asked Hayley.</p><p>Klaus took the parchment and opened it up, gritting his teeth. “An invitation from our mother.”</p><p>Hilda swore loudly. “Seriously? What the bloody hell does she want?” She snatched the parchment from her brother and saw it read ‘Dinner, Your Home, 8PM.’ “Oh, you’ve got to be bloody joking…”</p><p>Hayley crossed her arms. “It is times like this I'm really glad I never knew my mother.”</p><p>“We have enough enemies here,” muttered Klaus. “And now, the war for our home is to be fought against my own family.”</p><p>“Your wretched mother and her disciples tried to put a carving knife through our baby's heart,” said Hayley sharply. “I will happily add to the body count.”</p><p>This made both Klaus and Hilda smile, but their elder brother was displeased with them for finding humor in it.</p><p>“You will do no such thing,” said Elijah, pointing a finger at her dramatically. “Esther's a master in the art of possession. We know whose body she currently inhabits. We must decipher her intentions before she finds a new host.”</p><p>“Well, her last invitation was <a href="https://vampirediaries.fandom.com/wiki/Dangerous_Liaisons">an assassination attempt</a> on all her children,” said Klaus. “I think we can assume her intentions are decidedly foul.”</p><p>“A Binding Spell can be done,” mused Hilda thoughtfully. “To mark her. First, though, you need to find a witch willing to do it, and that will likely require different items depending on the witch.”</p><p>Elijah nodded. “Well then, we have this afternoon to prepare for the worst. I will get the Binding Spell underway. Sister, if you would please, the preparations. I expect you would prefer a busy task.”</p><p>He then walked off, and Hayley rolled her eyes. “The bloom is off the rose, I see,” said Klaus to the younger hybrid, who growled. “Shut up.”</p><p>Hilda tried not to think of how bad things were likely going to get. Taking her phone and some earbuds, she put on some music and started writing instructions for the servants. She did the cleaning herself, fixing up the dining room. Elijah texted her briefly to let her know that the spell was going to be done by a witch named Lenore, but soon after she had learned that Lenore had been kidnapped by Esther. Hilda had broken two wine glasses out of frustration, however, her brothers had assured her that they would take care about it.</p><p>So all Hilda did was taste and criticize food.</p><p>“Do we seriously need to wear this?” asked Hilda when they came downstairs at five to eight. Elijah had insisted on them wearing their Sunday best. Both brothers donned a fancy suit, and Hilda had been asked to pick out one of her more elegant gowns. She was currently in a burgundy off-the-shoulder silk dress that swept across the floor unless she held the skirt up.</p><p>“Appearance is a way of showing respect, Hilda,” said Elijah. “Mother will be more likely to surrender her true intentions.”</p><p>Klaus and Hilda shared an irritated look. “Will she really give a rat’s arse about our outfits?” muttered Hilda.</p><p>“I highly doubt her guard will drop just 'cause I'm dressed like a bloody lawyer,” added Klaus.</p><p>Elijah smiled as he lit the candles on the table. “We need every advantage we can get.”</p><p>“You always did excel in diplomacy,” Klaus noted. “Just know, if she tries anything, I'll tear her new body to pieces.</p><p>“You three haven’t changed a bit!”</p><p>They turned to see an unexpected guest. “Linens and silk to disguise your pathetic self-loathing,” said the man in the doorway, facing Elijah. He faced KLaus. “And you— despite the arrogant façade, you're still the same paranoid little boy, full of hate and fear.” Finally, he faced Hilda. “You, perhaps, I appreciate more than before. As psychotic and selfish as you are behind that full face of makeup, you’re the only one who mourned me.”</p><p>Elijah stepped forward. “Forgive me, I don't believe I've had the pleasure.”</p><p>The man looked offended. “Oh, you mean you don't recognize me? So much for the unbreakable bonds of family, huh? Always and forever indeed.”</p><p>Hilda knew right away. “Finn,” she breathed. “But… that’s not what I expected you to look like.”</p><p>“I’m not in my proper body, sister, surely you know how this works,” he told her, smirking at the confused brothers behind Hilda. “Now that the introductions are out of the way, let's eat!”</p><p>Hilda was not in the mood for food anymore.</p><p>Klaus, of course, was at the head of the table. Elijah was beside him, and Finn was at his left. Hilda sat across from Elijah, leaving the opposite head of the table and the seat across from Finn (to Hilda’s right) empty.</p><p>The compelled servants came around doing what Hilda had told him to do. They gently poured wine into the glasses in front of each sibling. When Finn acquired his, he wafted the scent of it to his nose. “What an aromatic bordot.” </p><p>“Well, it was a challenge for Hilda to find a good pairing,” said Klaus snarkily. “What wine goes well with treachery?”</p><p>Finn was amused. “Don't pout, brother. Tonight is meant to be a happy occasion!” He waved over a servant and whispered something in their ear.</p><p>“What exactly are we celebrating?” asked Elijah a bit impatiently.</p><p>“Why, my return, of course!” said Finn, as though this was obvious. “I spent nine hundred years—” he glanced at Klaus for confirmation, “right? Lying daggered in a box. I awoke for only a brief time before I was killed. And as I mentioned before, the sister that sits across from you is the only one of you who was saddened by my death. But nevermind that. I’m rather enjoying this new body. Strolling about your lovely city that, uh, you've made your home. But, do tell me— what'd I miss? Regale me with your contributions to society! Medicine? Philosophy? Art? Or, have you three merely cut a path of destruction across time?”</p><p>Klaus rolled his eyes. “The last time we met, you were helping our mother try to annihilate the lot of us! Let's not throw stones in glass houses.”</p><p>Finn chuckled as the servants started to set plates, glasses, and silverware on the two empty spots. “What of you, Hilda? I hear you’ve been traveling quite a bit.”</p><p>Hilda cast him a cheeky smile. “Why don’t you ask your spy?” she said. “I know you had someone check tabs on me the other day. And why, if I may ask, are the servants being told to set two places and not one?”</p><p>“Mother will sit at the head,” said Finn. “And, as for the seat across from me, that's reserved for another of our clan.Care to wager an educated guess? How about a paranoid one?”</p><p>Hilda’s glass shattered in her hands, spilling her blood and the wine onto the table.</p><p>She stared at Finn in shock. “No,” she muttered. “No. No— no. Kol would never—”</p><p>“And yet,” he said, confirming her suspicions, “our mother has made such a compelling argument that even he, the wildest of us Mikaelsons, has seen the error of his ways and accepted his new form with vigor! Change, dear siblings, is inevitable.”</p><p>“Go back,” said Hilda, swiping up her bloody hand to stop Klaus from retorting. “Kol is alive?”</p><p>Finn held his hands out as if he didn’t understand why this was confusing her. “Did you really think Mother would put me in the body of a teenager?”</p><p>“Am I to understand that you have seen Kol?” asked Elijah, staring at his sister.</p><p>Hilda leaned back in her chair. “I didn’t know… I thought that was Finn… the boy I told you that called me that nickname… he was with Davina!”</p><p>Finn shrugged. “Kol has a mind of his own, as you well know.”</p><p>“He didn’t bloody tell me he was alive, Finn! I understand perfectly well that you wouldn’t have told me if you saw me, but Kol—”</p><p>“Mother is very potent with her spells,” said Finn. “Kol was not physically able to tell you anything. I’m certain he tried. But, of course, even with all the magic he knows, he is no match for our mother. And neither are any of you.”</p><p>Klaus growled. “You would dare face us as a mortal? The only thing inevitable is your death.” He threw the knife he was holding at Finn, who flicked his wrist and deflected it, causing it to lodge in the chair beside him.</p><p>“Oh,” he said casually, plucking the knife off the chair and holding it aloft. “I suppose the honor of carving should go to the oldest. We have much to discuss.”</p><p>“Yes, we do,” pressed Hilda. “Am I to understand that the three of you came back into the bodies of witches?”</p><p>Finn nodded, sitting up as the servants brought around more wine for them. “I imagine you ought to be more inclined to follow along. You and Kol only became the raging bloodthirsty beasts you are because you missed having magic. Join us, Hilda. You, my sister, are the most intelligent of us all. Your knowledge of magic would come in handy. You would get to experience the feeling of magic flooding through your veins, as it did one thousand years ago. Wouldn’t you enjoy that? And from what I hear, you’ve grown to fancy that man our mother made into an Original to finish you off. If you were to accept her offer, to transfer your essence into the body of a witch, Mother could turn him back into a human and you two could be together.”</p><p>Klaus snorted. “You really think you will sway her with such an offer? Clearly you haven’t done your research properly, because Alaric Saltzman is not romantically involved with our sister.”</p><p>Hilda, however, was silent. </p><p>She heavily considered it. To be able to do magic again— that was all she and Kol ever wanted. Alaric wanted to be human, didn’t he? If she were a witch and he could revert to being mortal once more…</p><p>“Don’t tell me you’re actually bloody thinking about it!” snapped Klaus, making her flinch. “Don’t be absurd! As much as you and Kol loved your magic, you preferred immortality a thousand times to it!”</p><p>“Ah,” said Finn as he took a sip from his wine. “You forget how she broke down when he died. Hilda, you could be with Kol again, yes, mortals, but practicing magic like you’ve always wanted to. Immortality was a blessing when you were together wreaking havoc all over the world but as you’ve seen, Originals can still be killed, and the White Oak stake is out of your possession. There is a chance you can die either way. Why not strengthen yourself with the power you and Kol were blessed with as children? You were prodigies. You can become mighty witches in any body and you can still be as strong as when you had your vampire bodies. The added bonus is being able to do all the spells you’ve only ever been able to read about.”</p><p>Hilda didn’t know what to say. She watched the servants clean where her wine and blood had been spilt, and she stared as they filled up a new, intact glass for her.</p><p>Finn chuckled, seeing that he had left her speechless. “Well, I’m rather enjoying my evening.”</p><p>Klaus huffed angrily. “I'd rather enjoy you getting to the point.”</p><p>“I had nine hundred years to learn to be patient,” Finn noted. “Although, I am curious why you kept me daggered in a box for so long.”</p><p>“You were daggered for being an ever-simpering sycophant,” the hybrid snapped with a malicious smirk on his face. “Did Mother bring you back from the dead so you could wash her knickers?”</p><p>Finn immediately grew angry. “She raised me because I was treated unfairly! Cheated of all but the smallest portion of my life!” He faced the brother on his right. “Elijah, I can understand such cruelty coming from <em>him</em>. But I always thought of you as being the compassionate one! What did I do to deserve you turning your back on me? Were you afraid of Niklaus? Are you still?” </p><p>“Or perhaps,” Finn continued, “jealous is what kept me locked in a box? You coveted the duties of the eldest brother, in which case you had near-on a millennium to fix the problems of this family, and instead, produced nine centuries of failure.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Hilda, you must understand. You and Kol were daggered on and off for centuries as well. All for what? Wanting to enjoy the lives you never asked for? The lives that were forced upon you when our parents made us into vampires?”</p><p>Elijah held up his hand. “Finn, you might reside— somewhat parasitically, I might add— in another body, but I assure you, in nine hundred years, your tedious sentiments remain quite the same. You see, like Father, you've always despised our supernatural existence. Father, of course, slaughtered and consumed his own, whereas you became pretentious and dull... much like this meal. I will not ask you again— where is Mother?”</p><p>Klaus giggled in amusement at this, but he became serious as they saw someone enter the doorway. “Oh, my darling son,” said the sixteen year old girl that Hilda assumed must be Esther, hosted by Cassie. Finn got to his feet immediately to greet her, but Esther remained with her eyes fixated on Elijah. “I’ve missed you, too.”</p><p>Hilda gritted her teeth as she sat down. “Where is Kol?”</p><p>“Your brother is off on his own accord,” said Esther blandly. “But I assure you, you will see him soon.”</p><p>The younger Original sneered. “Why don't you say what you came here to say, so this wretched night can end?” she snapped.</p><p>Esther sighed. “It pains me that you and your brothers look at me with such disdain. I wish you could see that my every action has been to protect you!”</p><p>“Are you actually convinced that what you did was to protect us?” Hilda scoffed. “So, you’re not only a liar, but you’re also delusional? And they called Kol and I crazy…”</p><p>“If you can forget the hatred you and your brothers clint to— remember all the times I’ve mended and healed you.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, you must have the wrong child,” snarled Hilda. “Because you let Mikael abuse Kol and I while you treated Klaus like the prodigal son. I don’t care who your favorite was, Esther, I really don’t, but you never once stood up for Kol and I when Mikael beat us. Beat us simply for wanting to practice magic with you. We were patient while you taught us, we helped you making remedies and performing smaller spells while you worked on bigger ones, but never once did you defend us when that beast of a father came to hound us for preferring witchcraft to dueling. Kol and I had to heal ourselves every bloody time!”</p><p>Esther stared at her. “And who taught you the spells and remedies that were useful in healing yourselves?” She turned to Elijah. “Elijah, do you recall the day Niklaus challenged your father to a duel? Did I leave your brother to die alone? What did I say, when you came to me and asked me to help him?”</p><p>Elijah sighed. “That you would rather die than to see any of your children suffer.” He drummed his fingers against the table. “I must say, however, that you have completely ignored the points that Hilda has made. While you taught the twins the magic that healed them… you never aided them in employing it, did you? No, in fact, it was Finn and I who had to aid them in applying the pastes to their backs after Mikael cracked a whip on them. And for the most part, they could only rely on each other. You saw them every day with a new bruise or a scar and you did nothing.”</p><p>“The necklace,” said Klaus suddenly.</p><p>They all stopped.</p><p>“The necklace,” he repeated, his hands shaking with fury. “The one you gave me. It wasn’t spelled to protect me, it made me weak!”</p><p>“I sought to protect you from yourself,” said Esther indifferently. “If you had killed your father in that duel, or anyone else in the course of your life, you would have activated your curse!”</p><p>Klaus slammed his hands down on the table. “You ruined me!” he spat. “You left me to suffer at the hands of a father who valued only strength!”</p><p>“I kept you from becoming a beast for as long as I possibly could!” Esther countered.</p><p>Klaus slammed his hands down once again and stood up. “No, you lied to me! To hide your own transgressions because of your own fear! My whole life, I sought the approval I was denied by the man I thought was my father! I thought when the twins began to practice magic that Mikael would see my greatness but no— it only made it more obvious that I was not at the skill level he wanted me to be at! All because of that bloody necklace! You turned me into the weakling he hated.” He scoffed loudly, seeing Esther had looked away. “LOOK AT ME! You rant and you rave about the monster I have become, but you, Mother— you are the author of everything I am.”</p><p>Esther looked flustered at first, but then started to gasp. Finn frowned as the body of the young girl slumped back. Elijah managed to speed to her side and catch her before her head hit the table. He frowned. “She’s gone.” </p><p>He lunged immediately at Finn, who flicked his wrist with ease and threw Elijah into the nearest wall. Klaus and Hilda sped toward Finn, but they were thrown back just as easily, which gave Finn a chance to escape.</p><p>Klaus stood up furiously as the girl in the chair sat up. The hybrid sped to her side and seized her by the shoulders. “Where is our mother?!” he snapped.</p><p>She flinched, her eyes welling up with tears. “Where am I?” she murmured. “What’s happening?”</p><p>Klaus seized Cassie by the throat, making her squeak as she tried to breathe. “Let her go, Nik,” snapped Hilda. “Esther’s not in her anymore.” </p><p>When he didn’t immediately let go, Elijah had to yank him back. “She’s a puppet, Niklaus, look at her! She has absolutely no idea.”</p><p>Cassie started to cry as Klaus let go of her. “What are you talking about? Who are you?”</p><p>“Shut up!” snapped Klaus. “Stop talking, right now!” He started to pace the room. “Our mother orchestrated this entire evening just to torture us, and then simply vanishes. Why?”</p><p>Hilda felt her blood running cold. “What if we are not the only minds she was hoping to poison tonight?” She faced her older brother. “Call Hayley. Right now.”</p><p>Elijah dialed her number instantly. The line rang twice before the hybrid answered. “Elijah?” said Hayley a bit shakily. “I’m at Lenore’s shop…”</p><p>The line went dead and Klaus swore loudly. “What would she want with Hayley?” asked Elijah.</p><p>“To kill her? To punish us?” suggested Klaus. “To learn the truth about the child? For one of any number of reasons, all of which will be rendered moot when I send her screaming back to hell.”</p><p>The two brothers sped out, leaving Hilda to deal with the terrified Harvest girl in the seat.</p><p>Hilda sighed, not knowing what to do. “Look, child, I’m not going to try and take you back to wherever you came from. If I get near another witch tonight, I’m going to snap and rip some bloody heads off. So off you go, figure it out.”</p><p>Cassie didn’t care if Hilda led her back or not. Clearly, she just wanted to get out as soon as possible. As soon as the Original pointed her toward the exit to the Compound, she ran off, and Hilda let out a frustrated growl.</p><p>Kol was back. Finn was back. Esther was back and now in another body. Mikael was under Davina’s control and had the White Oak stake.</p><p>She needed to speak with Alaric, but there was no time. Just as she pulled out her phone to dial his number, Hayley returned, out of breath.</p><p>“Your mother is a fucking psycho,” she panted. </p><p>Hilda sighed. “Yeah… I know.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Chapter 30</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda wasn’t sure what problem to tackle first.</strong>
</p><p>Would she deal with Esther, who had sent a hundred starlings into Elijah and Klaus’s faces to convince them into taking her deal?</p><p>Would she deal with Mikael, who had disappeared suddenly with Davina and the White Oak stake, leaving no traces behind?</p><p>Would she deal with Kol, who could not reveal his identity to her outright, but who was clearly alive and well?</p><p>She decided that rather than deal with her parents, she ought to seek out her twin brother.</p><p>Though she had been tempted to call Alaric before she made her decision, she had decided against it. She knew that he would be busy for three consecutive nights, and she elected not to bother him.</p><p>There was only a delay in her search because Klaus had demanded she try to locate Davina before anything else. Though Hilda knew a grand multitude of Locator Spell variants from different cultures, there was no way to complete one when all the witches in New Orleans were helping Esther. Hilda was able to find some older records that indicated Davina’s family had a cabin in Terrebonne Parish, but that was as close as they could get. Thus, once she procured this information for her brother, she made to leave the Compound.</p><p>“Brother! Niklaus!”</p><p>She was walking down the stairs tying her hair up as Elijah walked into the courtyard. Hayley and her wolves were chatting at random spots all around them.</p><p>“You do realize that literally <em>everyone</em> in here has supernatural hearing, right?” said Hayley, standing up from where she had been conversing with two of the female wolves.</p><p>“Where is my brother?” asked Elijah.</p><p>“I’ll check his calendar,” said Hayley sarcastically. “Wait, no… not his wife, so…”</p><p>“Hayley, this city is under siege by an army of beasts following my deranged mother's every command,” Elijah replied. “Now, considering it was <em>your</em> people who just declared war on <em>my</em> kind, now's not the <em>best</em> time for your particular brand of <em>sass</em>.”</p><p>Hilda crossed her arms and walked over as Hayley glared at Elijah. “Klaus left a while ago. If you want to find him, I can't help you.” She held out her phone mockingly. “If only there was a magical device that people used to call people? I don't know, I'm out of ideas. Good luck.” But before leaving, she added, “Oh! One more thing, Elijah— those ‘beasts’ that you're referring to? They may be under Esther's control, but, like you said, they're <em>my</em> people. So, if you hurt them, your bitch mother will be the <em>least</em> of your problems.”</p><p>She walked off and Hilda stared at her brother with some mild contempt. “Seriously?” she said. “Haven’t you called him?”</p><p>“Are you going to be cross with me, too?” asked Elijah.</p><p>“You’re being rude to her, and I’m on her side on this so yeah. You’re better than this, Elijah. It’s unacceptable. Now, excuse me, I have to go.”</p><p>“Where to?”</p><p>“Looking for Kol. I should be gone most of the day if I don’t find anything.”</p><p>Elijah held his hand up. “Don’t even think of entering Lafayette Cemetery. The places is crawling with wolves, and Esther will be able to detect you.”</p><p>“I wasn’t planning to go in. And thank you, for calling them ‘wolves’ and not ‘beasts’ this time.” She brushed past him and made her way into town.</p><p>Her search was probably the most infuriating thing ever.</p><p>There were no leads. No one knew who Kaleb Westphall was or where he could be found. The Westphalls no longer lived in New Orleans, and no one had seen Davina, either. Hilda suspected Kol would be either in the Cemetery or with her, and she wasn’t about to waltz to Davina’s family cabin and risk being taken down by Mikael before at least checking that Kol wasn’t somewhere else. </p><p>She swept through town, trying to find anyone who even looked like Kaleb. It was so much more difficult because she hadn’t paid enough attention to his face; she hadn’t thought him important when she was right in front of him. And he bore basically no similarity to Kol aside from her height. Therefore, basically every typical teenage white male who was half a foot taller than her could be her brother. At least, Kaleb was the same height as Kol. Sometimes, she hated being the shortest of her siblings, because she couldn’t see over other heads very easily. And since she refused to wear heels very often, it was much more difficult.</p><p>The sun was already going down when Hilda had exhausted all her options. She had looked all over St. Anne’s Church and other buildings that they could be in. It was either go to the cabin or into the cemetery. From what Hayley was saying in her repeated texts, she, Marcel, and Elijah were teaming up with two of the wolves to help and stop Finn from forcing some young werewolves to trigger their curse. Hilda assumed the cemetery was not the better option at the moment.</p><p>Her dilemma was solved (surprisingly) by a text from Klaus, asking her to make her way to the cabin. He had confirmed that Davina and Mikael were there. She was making her way there when another text made her stop. <em>‘Kol is here.’</em></p><p>With a wide grin on her face, she sped the rest of the way to the cabin, expecting that Kol’s witch body might get knocked down when she leapt to hug him.</p><p>However, when she arrived to the clearing in the woods where the cabin was, an alarming sight greeted her. She could hear Klaus snapping at someone inside the cabin, but out where his car was, Mikael was standing, blood dripping down his chest, with an unconscious Cami in his arms.</p><p>He hadn’t seen Hilda, and she thought that the element of surprise would be in her favor.</p><p>She jumped at him, ready to snap his neck, but she had made a mistake. She had not seen what he had in his hands. Papa Tunde’s blade was shoved deep into her chest as he turned. He was in fact caught off guard by his daughter, but the way he had been holding the blade had aided him in taking her down before she could land a punch. </p><p>Hilda almost screamed, but Mikael snapped her neck before she could. With a wicked grin, he sped away with both Cami and Hilda.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>When Hilda woke up, she was in Lafayette Cemetery.</p><p>She knew, for a fact, she was inside of a tomb. No— not a tomb. Not exactly. This had to be the Lycée of the cemetery. She could smell sage burning and could see several pages from a grimoire had been hung up on a clothesline. She felt pain as she tried to tilt her head up, and when she tried to move her arms, she found they were chained up from the ceiling. Her legs were free, but they barely touched the ground, which made the sensation all the more uncomfortable.</p><p>She managed to hold her head up enough to check her surroundings better. Her chest immediately tightened. To her right, Elijah was chained up in a similar manner, completely unconscious and practically drenched in blood.</p><p>“My daughter, you’re awake.”</p><p>She snapped her head up, thrashing and trying to break the chains as Esther, in Lenore’s body, walked up to her. She must have been trying to look motherly, but that was certainly not what was conveyed.</p><p>“What the fuck?” snapped Hilda. Her own voice sounded hoarse. “Mikael—”</p><p>“Did not deliver you,” said Esther. “No, Finn found you in the water of the Bayou.”</p><p>Hilda tried desperately to remember what could have happened. She’d been stabbed with Papa Tunde’s blade… then everything had gone dark…</p><p>“I suppose your mind is too addled to figure it out, child,” sighed Esther. “I believe Mikael disposed of you in that murky water. Facedown, I presume, because you were repeatedly drowned and unable to pull that blade out of your chest. When Finn learned that you were missing…”</p><p>“How long has it been?” Hilda snapped. “Tell me, now!”</p><p>“A week, at least. We retrieved you only today.” She smiled and came closer, putting her hand on Hilda’s face, making the Original flinch away.</p><p>“You’re too weak to be resisting,” chided Esther. “It’s not a difficult choice. You could have everything you ever wanted! Magic. You, my daughter, were the first of your siblings to be born with power. After we lost your elder sister… you were safe.”</p><p>“What the fuck are you talking about?” snarled Hilda. </p><p>“There are many things you will never understand. But contrary to whatever you may believe, I do very much care for you and Kol. It’s why I took him from the Other Side before it collapsed. You two were the only children of mine that honed into your birthright. You were brilliant. You, perhaps, more than him. Not a firstborn Mikaelson witch, but just as powerful…”</p><p>Hilda growled. “Let me go, Esther.”</p><p>Esther tsked. “You continue to refuse. Do you not see what a monster you became when your magic was lost? Perhaps… you need to see it for yourself.”</p><p>She raised a ceremonial blade and slit Hilda’s neck. The Original cried out in pain as Esther gripped her head, mumbling a spell and tossing her into a series of memories.</p><p>She saw herself, as she had been in 1553, slaughtering a congregation of nuns with Kol in a smaller convent they found in the outskirts of Italy.</p><p>Then she saw the day in 1904 that she and Kol had killed several tourists inside the Parthenon, in Greece.</p><p>The day in 1647 when they killed an entire clan in Africa.</p><p>Esther pulled her out of the memories, watching her daughter seize and bleed all over her clothes and the floor. “You became bloodthirsty. Monsters. That, my daughter, I own up to. I took that magic away from you and you satisfied your needs in other ways. Perhaps, you are better than your siblings because you never turned anyone… yet you relished in violence all the same.”</p><p>Hilda snarled and tried to bite her, yanking furiously at the chains. Esther flicked her wrist, making the Original howl in pain as she felt her brain practically being lit on fire. “Remember the innocence you once had!” Esther yelled, making Hilda sob as she continued to bleed and burn. “Those people were as innocent as you and Kol were, when you were children. You were better as witches. That illness you both have in your minds can be eased as witches, with herbs and medication. As a vampire, you will never get the treatment that you need. If you remain a vampire, you will have to die, and you will never get to see him again.”</p><p>“STOP!” screamed Hilda. “LEAVE ME ALONE!”</p><p>“Remember that innocence,” Esther repeated. “Remember it!”</p><p>“NO!” she sobbed. “WE WEREN’T INNOCENT! MIKAEL RUINED US!”</p><p>Knowing she couldn’t fight back against her mother’s spell, she allowed her to enter her mind instead</p><p>
  <em>“MAMA! MAMA!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Kol and Hilda sprinted full speed to where Esther was with Henrik, who was still too little to play with the other siblings, and Rebekah, who was with her dolls. The twins sported large bruises on their faces as they entered the house.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Esther frowned at them. “What happened? Did you fall?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Papa hit us,” sniffled Kol as Hilda glared at Rebekah, who was gaping at them in surprise. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What for?” said Rebekah. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda, in her annoyance, shoved her to the floor. Esther grabbed her hand and smacked it, making Hilda whimper. “Apologize to your sister!” she demanded.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why should I?” growled Hilda furiously. “Papa always hits us and he never says sorry! I don’t care if Bekah gets pushed, she’s fine!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah!” Kol agreed, pushing Rebekah as she tried to get back up. “That’s for making me fall yesterday!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Kol!” Esther cried. “Hilda— stop this behavior immediately! Here, let me see the bruise—”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You can see it fine!” Hilda said, crossing her arms as Rebekah began to cry. “Papa hit us!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“He said we didn’t fight good enough!” Kol chimed in. “But it’s not our fault Elijah’s bigger than us!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mikael came in at that moment. “Hilda! Kol!” he snarled. “Get back out there this instant!” He then turned to Esther. “They are perfectly fine,” he growled. “They need to learn to fight their own battles and not give up simply because their opponent appears to be more skilled.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Esther pursed her lips. “Twins, listen to your father.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda and Kol were displeased as their mother turned away, letting Mikael drag them back outside by their hair.</em>
</p><p>Esther pulled herself out, this time. “We were not innocent, Mother,” Hilda mumbled venomously as she felt the pain in her head subside. Esther had dropped her spell. “We were eight and Elijah was fourteen and we got in trouble for not being able to keep up. How in the bloody hell was that our fault? Mikael conditioned us from a very young age that we were to punish those who bothered us. He brought out the worst in us and that won’t just go away because you put me in a witch’s body! I was never what he wanted. I wasn’t Freya, and he <em>hated</em> that. He beat us all the time and you never tried to help us. Our siblings didn’t stand up for us, either. How were we supposed to feel? Even now, we were the only ones who consistently had each other’s backs. Violence has been our nature since we were children. And when we lost that magic, violence and blood was what we reverted to because that’s what Mikael wanted us to be. He wanted us to be strong and fierce and cruel and we became exactly that. I don’t give a damn who the hell I hurt. You can’t use that against me, it doesn’t bloody matter! It’s like Klaus said. You and Mikael are the authors of everything we are. If we’re monsters, it’s because of YOU!”</p><p>The entire building shook, and two of the flasks that Esther had on her table shattered. The witch glared at her daughter. “You will never be happy,” she said. “It needn’t be a terrible fate. You have sired no one— this spell will not harm anyone. I can alter your new body and make it look just like this one. You would have magic, you would still be able to fight.”</p><p>Hilda looked away. “I’m done talking to you.”</p><p>“That man,” Esther continued. “Alaric, is it? You could have children with him. A little girl and a little boy. Perhaps more. I’ve seen into his mind, I know that it’s what he wants. You could give that to him. You could be his wife. You could be a mother.”</p><p>“Are you stupid?” Hilda growled. “I don’t want kids! You can’t be this out of the loop, I broke it off with him because I don’t want to be human! I don’t want to be mortal! I don’t want to be a mother! Alaric wants to be a father and he wants to be human. It won’t work. So, Mother, you’ve failed at making your offer. Release me. Now.”</p><p>Esther sighed. “You were always a stubborn brat. Unfortunately, you are not like Rebekah. You reject the idea of a family.”</p><p>“Oh, gee, I wonder why? Maybe I don’t want my family to go to shit the way this one did!”</p><p>Esther flicked her wrist, and Hilda began to cry out in pain once more. “Selfish,” she said darkly. “You are a selfish girl, Hilda.”</p><p>She jabbed her arm out to knock her out again.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>The nightmares wouldn’t stop.</p><p>Hilda didn’t know how much time was passing. All she knew was that she kept seeing memories of things she preferred to forget. She saw herself as a little girl in some. In others, she looked as she currently did, but whenever she looked up after a particularly violent bit of feeding, she would see the small version of her watching in horror. The little Hilda looked absolutely terrified. Meanwhile, the adult Hilda hardly reacted to violent scenes anymore.</p><p>She felt pain, but it didn't consume her. It was like a lingering sensation in the back of her mind, like an itch she couldn’t scratch. The torment remained constant as blurs passed before her eyes, reminding her of who she had become and how appalled her childhood self would have been, seeing such a thing. </p><p>But suddenly, she was in her childhood body and looking at Elijah, in his youth once more. They looked to be around nine and fifteen. They turned to see Klaus, as an adult, walking toward them.  He put his hands on their shoulders. “We were innocent once,” he told them. “Long ago. This bloodlust was forced upon us by our parents, turning us from prey to predator. We're the demons lurking in shadow. We are the savage villains in fairy tales taught to children. But, not for <em>my</em>child. Not for Hope. In her stories, we are <em>knights </em>in shining armor. Without you by my side, I don't think I can survive my own love for my daughter. I <em>need</em> you. I need you, brother. The monster in me can only be challenged by the monster in you. Only together can we fight our demons and save our family.”</p><p>He handed them each a wooden stake. Confused, the two looked down, then turned in fright as an adult Elijah and adult Hilda, covered in blood, ran toward them, trying to kill them. Hilda was the first to throw her stake, hitting the version of herself that would have attacked her.</p><p>She awoke gasping for breath, seeing Klaus sitting beside her and dabbing her head with a cloth. Elijah was the next to awaken, panting in a similar manner. The two looked at their brother, and they understood they were safe now, away from Esther.</p><p>“Up you come,” said Klaus, going to Hilda and helping her sit up “It’s been a few days…” he pulled out four blood bags and gave two to each sibling. “Drink up.”</p><p>Hilda seized the first bag and downed it within seconds, gulping and groaning as she felt strength flood back into her. Klaus held up something and she snatched it, thinking it was the next blood bag, but it was her phone, and he cast her a very strange look as she nearly bit into it.</p><p>“Calm down, sister, it’s not that bloody serious,” he told her. “Ah— speaking of it, though, you ought to call that insufferable Alaric. He’s called at least one hundred times in the past week and a half.”</p><p>“I expect he would, Niklaus,” said Elijah, still carefully finishing his first bag. </p><p>Hilda dug into her second bag as she slid her finger over the cracked screen. “How is this still intact?”</p><p>“Well, it fell out of your pocket when Mikael seized you. It was the only reason we knew that you and Camille had both been taken.”</p><p>“I’ll call him later,” said Hilda quietly, seeing about forty unread messages. “What’s been happening?”</p><p>Klaus immediately looked saddened. “I… I spent the day with my father. My real father.”</p><p>His two siblings went silent. “Esther brought him back from the dead,” continued Klaus, “believing he could convince me to renounce vampirism. The thought of what I could <em>be</em>, had I been raised by him. Had I been nurtured. This was his.” He took out a notebook and handed it to Elijah. </p><p>The elder Original opened it, finding a sketch of Klaus, when he was younger. Hilda peered over at it as Klaus said, “He knew about Hope.”</p><p>Elijah shut the notebook instantly and stood. Klaus began to tear up. “I wanted to trust him more than anything in the world. I-I wanted to, but… I couldn't be sure. And, I would never forgive myself if something happened to <em>her </em>because of my selfish desire for a father. So, I killed him. Without hesitation. I <em>killed</em> him.”</p><p>Hilda covered her mouth. “Nik,” she whispered, going over to him and pulling him into a tight hug. She rubbed his back as soothingly as she could, feeling him shake as his body became wracked with sobs. He sniffled and gripped onto her like he was afraid that she, too, might leave him.</p><p>“You killed him for Hope,” said Elijah from behind her. “And whatever innocence remains, we must protect at any cost.”</p><p>He stepped forward and joined the hug, encompassing his siblings in his arms.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Chapter 31</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>It was blatantly clear that Hilda and Elijah were not okay.</strong>
</p><p>When they had pulled away from the embrace, Hilda had gone to shower, pushing back the call to Alaric. She wanted to at least feel clean and composed before she dealt with an explanation as to why she was missing for days on end.</p><p>She had walked into her room and had been contemplating what she ought to do first. Prepare her clothes and then shower, or shower and return and see what she wanted to wear.</p><p>One second, she was looking at a clean room.</p><p>The next second, it was a complete mess.</p><p>She flinched when she saw the abrupt change. She looked down at her hands and they were trembling. She wasn’t even standing in the same place as before, she was nearer to the window, which had been thrown open. The ripped curtains fluttered out and there was a distinct smear of candle wax at the edge of one. </p><p>It was a miracle the room hadn’t been set on fire. Hilda stared around, wide-eyed, realizing that she had been the one that did this. There was no other explanation for it. She had forgotten once more what she was doing. </p><p>Her entire body trembled as she reached for the bedsheets, which lay on the floor. There were broken objects everywhere— nothing important, all merely trinkets used for decoration.</p><p>“Hilda, are you alright in there?”</p><p>She snapped her head up. The door was closed. Had she closed it? </p><p>“Hilda?” The door opened and she saw Elijah step in. He stopped in shock at the sight of her standing between the mess she had made.</p><p>The Original swallowed hard, not sure what to tell her. “I-I… er— will let you be,” he said awkwardly.</p><p>“Elijah,” she whispered, looking up in horror. “Did… did I make noise?”</p><p>“It sounded like you had a tornado rushing through your room. You sounded angry.”</p><p>Hilda sat on the bed. Elijah came forward and started to pick up several of the broken items, watching as his sister took her own head in her hands, trying to breathe steadily. She was clearly overwhelmed, but by what, he didn’t know.</p><p>“What happened?” he demanded a bit impatiently, his own temperament not doing very well. Surely someone had texted or called her and said something foul. “Was it Alaric?”</p><p>“No,” she muttered. “No… I haven’t called him… I don’t think…”</p><p>She stood and went into the bathroom, seeing that everything was intact in there. Apparently, her fury hadn’t reached it. She put a hand over her chest. Her heart seemed to be leaping angrily beneath her ribcage. “I need to shower,” she said. Her own voice sounded far away. “Let it be… I’ll clean it.”</p><p>“Are you quite certain, sister?” he asked.</p><p>She nodded quickly. She wanted him out of the room. “Yes, please, leave it.”</p><p>Elijah reluctantly stepped out, closing the door behind him.</p><p>Hilda wished her shower had been more peaceful. She wondered for several moments if she was really cleaning herself. Was the soap actually there? Or was she currently in another state of mind, breaking the faucets? Was the water really lukewarm or were icy shards raining down on her?</p><p>Even when she wrapped the towel around herself, she didn’t feel like it was really there. She looked into the mirror and she saw her own face, her own damp hair dripping onto her shoulders. Her eyes were the same but when she blinked, she was no longer looking at her reflection.</p><p>She saw Mikael and Esther, and it made her jump back, gasping as if they were going to leap out of the glass and attack her. When she looked back up after she nearly broken a hole into the wall, she saw herself again.</p><p>“I’m losing my bloody mind,” she muttered, shaking her head and going to get dressed.</p><p>She threw on the first clothes she found in her closet and got straight to cleaning. It would have been nicer to complete the task with her eyes closed, but she couldn’t exactly tidy up if she wasn’t watching where things were going.</p><p>Half of what she had in her room had had to go in the trash because all that remained were shards of what the material once was. She put her bedsheets back on and fixed the few things that had remained untouched. </p><p>She didn’t want to look in the mirror that resided across from her. Each time she passed it to toss more garbage in the bin, she kept her eyes downcast. Would Hilda be there to greet her or would one of her parents be there?</p><p>She looked down at her phone as she finished sweeping the floors. The cracked screen was dark. No one had recently tried to contact her. Had it really only been a week? It felt like longer. What if they had forgotten about her?</p><p>She wanted to speak to Alaric but she was afraid of what she’d say. </p><p>So she dared to look up in the mirror</p><p>“Idiot girl,” snarled Mikael back at her, holding up the White Oak stake. “You ought to turn yourself over and accept your death. It is inevitable.”</p><p>Hilda whirled around to look at the wall, her chest feeling tight all over again. When she peeked back over her shoulder, she saw only her own terrified expression.</p><p>She left the room and went to where Elijah was adjusting his suit in his bedroom. She leaned into the doorway, and saw that he was staring at his hands, which were shaking.</p><p>“So it’s not just me,” she said, making him flinch. “You’re feeling ill too.”</p><p>Elijah cleared his throat and looked up. “It would appear so. I continue to see… our mother. Mikael. Tatia. In… alternation. Mostly Tatia. Is this… what you feel?”</p><p>“This is the kind of stuff that would happen to Kol and I all the time,” she mumbled. “Losing track of time. Tantrums we didn’t even get to experience. Anger, frustration, flashbacks. It’s like bloody dissociating with the entire world. And feeling so inexplicably murderous. I think Esther might’ve just given you a taste of what he and I went through every few years. Long periods of time where we weren’t ourselves. Most years we didn’t feel like this. We killed and it kept us satisfied. But whenever we took breaks, we’d start to do things without our knowledge.” </p><p>Hilda walked closer to him. “I think her spell lingers on us both. We’re going to have to… work our minds out as we try to bypass her influence.”</p><p>They both turned at the sound of Klaus walking into the room. “How do you feel?” he asked them gently.</p><p>“The worst has past,” said Elijah calmly, as though all was well. “Though, I suspect the nightmares are far from over.”</p><p>“Well, gather your strength,” murmured the hybrid. “After the message I sent Mother tonight, I expect hell-fire to rain upon us imminently.”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “We need to make a move before she strikes.”</p><p>From behind Klaus, Marcel and Hayley walked up. “Well, actually, moves were made while you were both sleeping,” announced Marcel.</p><p>Hayley offered the two Originals a smile. “It’s good to see you both vertical. Marcel and I each left a gift for all three of you in the ballroom, though one gift is a little more for Hilda. You’re welcome.”</p><p>The siblings shared a look. Hilda was the first to walk out, hearing Marcel tell her ‘you’re welcome’ under his breath.</p><p>She arrived in the ballroom and nearly fainted. The first figure she saw was Finn in his borrowed body, hung against the staircase railings by his arms, which were locked in enchanted manacles to suppress his magic. She stepped forward and saw that opposite to him, Kaleb Westphall was tied in a similar manner.</p><p>“Kol,” she whispered.</p><p>He cast her the unmistakably characteristic grin she’d seen on her brother for over a thousand years. “Hilly,” he said. “Glad to hear you’re alright.”</p><p>She ran forward and yanked the manacles off. “Now, hold on!” snapped Klaus as she pulled him down. “He’s a bloody hazard!”</p><p>Kol looked over at him and scoffed. “Kidnapping is a rather unpleasant way to begin a family reunion, Nik.”</p><p>“Wait until you see how we end it,” said Klaus darkly, glaring as his sister pulled Kol into a tight hug. “Seriously, sister, must you—”</p><p>“Let her be, Niklaus,” said Elijah sternly.</p><p>Everyone in the room was silent as they watched the twins embrace. Hilda’s hold was so tight that Kol appeared to feel some slight pain in his mortal body. She was rubbing his back, her face buried in his shoulder, inhaling the familiar scent that hadn’t faded even when he was in another’s body.</p><p>They heard her sniffle, and Kol caressed the back of her head. “Come on, Hilly, don’t make me cry,” he said softly. “Really…”</p><p>“I missed you,” she said, her voice muffled as she kept her face pressed into his shirt. She sniffled again. “I thought I lost you forever…”</p><p>“You can’t get rid of me,” he chuckled. “We’re the Mikaelson Twins, we’re a matched set.”</p><p>She let out a soft, almost forced laugh, and started to cry, unable to contain her sobs. She whimpered and continued to hold on, terrified that if she let go, he would vanish into thin air. “D-Don’t leave me,” she whimpered. “D-Don’t leave me e-ever again…”</p><p>“I’m right here, Hilly,” he told her. “I’m back. I don’t look or sound like myself but I’m here to stay, alright?”</p><p>She pulled away, her eyes still filled with tears, and quite red. She turned to Klaus, giving him the saddest look he’d ever seen on her. “P-Please, Nik, don’t keep them prisoners here,” she begged. “L-Let them s-sleep comfortably s-somewhere…”</p><p>Klaus had a pained look in his eyes, clearly not wanting to do anything like that. “Sister,” he said in a hard voice. “They’re witches, there’s a hazard…”</p><p>“Please?”</p><p>“For God’s sake, Hilda, when have you ever shown sympathy for anyone?”</p><p>Elijah put his hand on his shoulder. “Niklaus. We’ll honor her wishes, on one condition. The manacles are to remain on them.”</p><p>Hilda sniffled. “K-Kol won’t do anything…”</p><p>Klaus threw his hands in the air. “Are you going to bloody supervise him all night or what?” he snapped.</p><p>“Hey,” Hayley growled. “Leave her alone, Klaus.”</p><p>The hybrid crossed his arms. “Fine, fine— it appears I’m going to be overruled against my wishes. In <em>my</em> house, mind you.”</p><p>“Oh, don’t be such a prat,” Kol hissed. “I promise I won’t do anything if you just let me free. Can’t say the same about him, though.” He nodded back to Finn, who looked indignant.</p><p>Marcel held his hands up. “How about this,” he said. “Hilda and Kol have adjoined rooms anyway. Hilda has vampire hearing. Kol just wants to get to be with his sister. They can each be in their room, the door open, and if he tries to do magic, she’ll know. Finn can have the manacles on and he can stay in the room next to Hayley’s. If he tries anything, she’ll hear it.”</p><p>Klaus sighed loudly and pointed at the two brothers. “I expect you both down for breakfast, both with the manacles on in the morning. No complaints. We will have breakfast as a bloody family and that is final.”</p><p>“Fine by me,” said Kol, then, under his breath, he added, “you massive prick.”</p><p>“Kol,” said Elijah sternly, though he looked amused. “You do know that quite literally everyone around you has vampire hearing, yes?”</p><p>“I am aware, and I don’t care,” said Kol, making Hilda crack a small smile.</p><p>“Enough of this,” she said, taking her brother’s hand. “Come on, I can help you get your room ready.”</p><p>It was nice to just be able to speak to him again. If she didn’t focus on Kaleb’s face, she could see Kol just as he had always been before. She aided him in tidying up the cabinets and changing the sheets for him, eagerly listening to him talk about Davina.</p><p>“You really like this girl, don’t you?” she asked in surprise. “You haven’t spoken so highly of someone in… a really long time.”</p><p>“She’s marvelous, that Davina Claire,” he said, blushing a bit. “Witty and fierce. Bloody gorgeous, too. She’s determined and strong. I reckon she actually fancies me, but I admit, she wasn’t all too pleased when she learned my real identity.”</p><p>“How can you expect her to be pleased when we’re automatically associated with Klaus?”</p><p>“Ah, well, at least she calmed down pretty quickly. She seems to like you. I still chuckle to think that she thought I was flirting with you the day we saw you. Really, it was just Mummy dearest put a charm on me, I couldn’t tell you who I was. You needed to figure it out on your own.”</p><p>“Clever of you, what you said. I thought you were Finn initially, I had no idea you’d ever listen to what Esther had to say.”</p><p>“I didn’t want to, mind you. I only did it because it was either that or permanent death. I didn’t mind being in a witch body. We’ll find a way to get me back to my proper body. As long as I get to be alive again, that’s all that matters.”</p><p>Hilda stopped fitting the sheets to pull him into another hug. “It’s so good to have you home,” she sighed, leaning onto him. “I can’t tell you how good it feels.”</p><p>“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stop Esther from taking you. I had no idea you were taken until yesterday. I was trying to find you to heal you. Finn tagged along like the simpering bloke he is and we both got rounded up by Marcel and Hayley. That hybrid girl sure is fierce. She’s your type.”</p><p>Hilda blushed. “I’m not going there. She’s sweet but she’s sort of between our brothers. That’s not a conflict I want to enter.”</p><p>“Speaking of all that, how’s your Alaric?”</p><p>The Original closed her mouth immediately, pursing her lips, unsure how to respond. She pulled out her phone and flipped it around in her hands. “I ought to call him,” she murmured. “I was missing for over a week and had no contact.”</p><p>“You’re not an item, then?”</p><p>“No. I broke it off. It’s safer for him that way.”</p><p>Kol gave her a sad look. “Hilly, you don’t have to stop yourself from being happy, you know?”</p><p>“Oh, Kol, you know this family is too complex. Nik will never let us be happy. He didn’t want Rebekah and Marcel together and he actually likes her as a sister. Imagine what he’ll do to me.”</p><p>“Well, perhaps he won’t care since you’re not his favorite.”</p><p>“He’ll mess things up, I know it. And it’s so much more than that. Alaric has this idea of a perfect little family and I don’t have that in mind.”</p><p>Kol drummed his fingers against his own thigh. “Why not?”</p><p>“Why not what?”</p><p>“Why don’t you have it in mind?”</p><p>“I’d be a terrible mother, Kol. I’m more fitting to be a… a godmother and an aunt, not an actual maternal figure. I’m not nice.”</p><p>“Hilly, just because we’re psychopaths doesn’t mean we can’t have a soul. It’s different for us than human psychopaths. Our parents were absolutely terrible but that doesn’t mean we will be too.”</p><p>She made a face. “Are you—?”</p><p>He blushed. “Maybe.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Hilda smirked ever so slightly. “Have you even kissed her?”</p><p>“Not yet, but I will.”</p><p>“Yet you're already considering the idea of having children with her?”</p><p>“Can you blame me? Davina Claire is a Wonder Woman. I can see myself… having a normal life with her, you know? It’s not that bizarre, Hilly, we’ve both considered it with people we’ve fancied before. I think after dying… I’ve realized that I don’t want to just be a killer for the remaining time I get to live. Mischief is something I’ll never abandon but I want to be better. For her. It’s so easy now… there’s no blood lust. I haven’t lost my temper. I feel so normal and just… fine. I don’t have any more moments where I lost track of time. I don’t get as angry.”</p><p>Hilda looked away. “Well… that’s certainly one thing I’d like to be rid of.”</p><p>“Our minds seemed to have been corrupted when we were turned. We became incredibly aggressive because we couldn’t let it out any other way. With magic, we always used our anger as fuel for spells and it was healthy. With vampirism… all that was heightened and we became terrible.”</p><p>She sighed and lay back on his bed. “I’d like to be better, Kol. I really would. I don’t like having my default setting be violence. It makes me feel ashamed and self-conscious. But I also don’t want to be in someone else’s body.”</p><p>“You choose whatever is best for you,” he said firmly. “Don’t think about me. Be selfish, for once, Hilly. You think you’re terrible but you’ve always put me first. You’ve always set aside your own fun to check up on me. You grieved for months and drew away from others to honor me. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be free of that bloodlust.”</p><p>She sat back up. “I’ll think about it,” she promised. “I will.”</p><p>Kol took her phone and handed it to her. “Call him, Hilly. I’ll be fine on my own. We have a long time after this. At least let him know you’re not dead.”</p><p>She pulled him into another hug before standing up and walking to her room, closing the door that split their rooms, so that Kol would have his privacy. She dialed Alaric’s number and sat down on her own bed.</p><p>The line only rang once before he answered. “Hilda?” he said breathlessly. “Is it you?”</p><p>“Hi, Ric,” she said gently. “It’s me.”</p><p>“Thank every deity in the world— I thought Mikael killed you. We would never have known because you have no sirelings and no one would have dropped dead.”</p><p>She let out a soft chuckle. “It’s been… a very terrible week, honestly. But tell me first, how are things with you?”</p><p>“I’ve been worried sick. And I can get sick again, which isn’t fun…”</p><p>“What do you mean by that?”</p><p>Alaric sighed. “I… I’m human again.”</p><p>Hilda nearly dropped her phone. “You’re <em>what?”</em></p><p>“It’s hard to explain… but the spell keeping out of Mystic Falls… um, I was taken over the border and your mother’s spell was ripped off of me. I was dying, but Jo was there and she saved me. She kept me from losing my life and now I’m just a regular human again. I have to admit, it’s nice not feeling the hunger for blood, but I was just getting used to it. I didn’t mind it.”</p><p>“That’s… wow.” Hilda wasn’t sure what else to say. <em>Congratulations?</em> “That’s… what you wanted, isn’t it? So… it’s good.”</p><p>There was a pause. “I guess so,” he said quietly. “I did want to be human again.”</p><p>“Then that’s a good thing. I’m happy for you.”</p><p>“Are you okay, Hilda? You don’t have to pretend to be happy for me if you’re not. I respect your opinion, I’m not gonna be a dick and get mad just because you have a preference.”</p><p>“No, it’s not that. Just… well, what happened was that Mikael subdued me and tossed me into the Bayou and I ended up in Esther’s clutches. She… she brought back Finn and Kol in witch bodies.”</p><p>“<em>What? </em>Kol, too?”</p><p>“Yep. I was surprised too, but he’s in the next room. He’s… happy. He met this nice witch girl and he fancies her. He’s even considering the idea of living a normal human life with her. My brother’s never done that. He says… the anger is gone. His mind doesn’t attack him anymore. And Esther was… torturing me and Elijah to try and convince us to do the same thing. To abandon our bodies and be witches. It wasn’t a good experience. I’m still… experiencing a lot of side effects to it.”</p><p>She felt herself starting to tear up. “I-I’m sick in the head,” she said shakily. “I’m never going to be okay. My mother will never leave me alone. A part of me wants to just give in. To be a witch again. I’ll be mortal but I will be able to do magic. I won’t be a hazard to people or to myself. I could be normal. Have a typical life. I could have kids and not be afraid of ruining them. I wouldn’t have to worry about my bloodlust or temper getting in the way and making me hurt anyone without me realizing it’s happening. Today, I tore apart my room and I didn’t realize until afterward. If I stay a vampire, I won’t ever be fully happy. Kol will eventually die and I’ll be alone again. And if you’re human now…”</p><p>“Hey,” he said. “Don’t make the decision based off of me. Take me out of the equation and take Kol out of the equation. What will make <em>you</em> happy? Do you want to take this deal and wake up every day in the body of someone else? You may be able to practice magic but I know you, Hilda, and you will be completely miserable like that, whether your mind feels messed up or not. A healthy decision should never be made under pressure. This is life changing. Esther shouldn’t be torturing you to get you to do what she wants. What you need is time to think this over properly. Don’t make a sacrifice for me and for your brother. Focus on what you want.”</p><p>“I’m a terrible person as a vampire,” she mumbled. “And even though I love… I love immortality and I love the strength I have… I could make the sacrifice.”</p><p>“First of all, don’t say that about yourself. You’re a good person, Hilda, whether you want to believe it or not. I may not have known you before you were a vampire but I know for a fact that being a vampire has brought out the best qualities in you. Maybe you weren’t shy as a kid and maybe you weren’t so destructive but I see you and you… you’re filled with this enviable confidence. You are strong and you’re a hell of an awesome person even with the bloodlust and the temper issues. Everyone can be redeemed, even vampires. You can be happy like this. You don’t have to give it all up because you think everyone else will be better off like that. You deserve to do what is best for you. And I don’t think being human will make you happy in any way, not in the next few months at least. Sure, yeah, maybe we could be together and you and your brother would do magic. But you’ll always miss that thrill of moving at an incredibly fast speed. You’ll always miss being able to fight anyone and everyone and know you’ll most likely win. You'll miss compulsion and that rush in your body when you feed. Magic can only get you so far. Right now, you’re indestructible and I know you like that. So don’t give it all up for me or for your brother. Esther shouldn’t blackmail you into it.”</p><p>Hilda swallowed hard. “Do you really think I could be happy if I stay like this?”</p><p>“I guarantee you can be happy no matter what you choose, as long as it’s actually what you want and it’s a choice you make when no one is pressuring you into it. Think about it, Hilda, don’t decide anything right now. I will care about you whether you’re a vampire or a witch or just a regular human. And I want you to be happy.”</p><p>“Thank you,” she whispered. She cleared her throat. “Are you happy? Are things going well with Jo?”</p><p>“They’re going well. I like her. I don’t want to move too fast but it feels… so right.”</p><p>Her lip quivered as she nodded. “You should be happy too, Alaric. She sounds amazing.” She quickly changed the subject. “Listen, I should probably sleep and hope that Esther’s spell wears off overnight or something…”</p><p>“Oh. Um, sure, yeah, goodnight. Thanks for letting me know that you’re okay. Sleep well, Hilda.”</p><p>“Sleep well, Alaric,” she replied before hanging up quickly. </p><p>She looked up at the mirror and saw Mikael smirking malevolently in her direction. “Stupid litte wench,” he sneered. “He’ll never want a filthy beast like you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Chapter 32</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda couldn’t sleep through the night.</strong>
</p><p>It felt like everytime she closed her eyes, she saw Mikael. Or Esther. Or Alaric. Or Kol. The last two always seemed to be dying or angry at her, and she didn’t like it.</p><p>So she remained sitting on her bed, knees hugged into her chest, her phone plugged into the wall as she watched video after video of the most bizarre things. She watched compilations of cute pets. The most epic fails of small children. Conspiracy theories about the Bermuda Triangle. She felt quite educated afterward but in reality, she felt as though she absorbed nothing. She’d only been staring at the screen out of fear.</p><p>When morning came, she got dressed and retrieved Kol, who was saddened to have to put on the manacles as they went down for breakfast. They found the compelled servants were already placing platters of pastries all over the table in front of Klaus, Elijah, and Finn, who were already up. Finn, to no one’s surprise, was in manacles.</p><p>Hilda and Kol went to sit beside Finn, who was nearest Klaus. Across them sat Elijah, fiddling with the utensils in front of his plate.</p><p>“Now that the twins have graced us with their presence,” said Klaus loudly, as if making an announcement. “I want to speak to you, Finn and Kol. Today— a new future awaits. Forget your animosity toward Elijah and myself. Think, perhaps, only of the bond you both share with our sister, Hilda. Join us, in the spirit of unity, against she who truly deserves your ire— our mother. Do this, and we will welcome you with open arms.”</p><p>“Well,” began Kol, reaching for the platter of beignets. Elijah pulled it away, and Klaus chuckled. “But, if you continue to oppose us,” said the hybrid, “a denial of pastries will be the least of your concerns.”</p><p>Hilda made a face and pulled the tray back for Kol, allowing him to take one of the beignets. “Thank you, Hilly,” he said, looking at Klaus. “Listen, Nik, if all you wanted was my allegiance against our mother, you should have just said so. I’m reunited with my sister again, and that was all that I needed.”</p><p>Klaus seemed pleased to hear this. “That’s excellent news. Take this vow, then, to stand beside us as brothers.”</p><p>Finn scoffed, looking at Klaus skeptically. “Brothers. Does that word even apply to us? After all these centuries of betrayal? It seems Hilda is the only one of our siblings who consistently cared about our wellbeing, and even she is blind to the wonders our mother can provide for her. When has loyalty to you ever been rewarded, Niklaus? The twins were constantly daggered for having a mind of their own— a fact, which, I remind you, we have known well since their birth. And on that note, where is our sister, Rebekah? She was blindly loyal to you for a thousand years and now? Nowhere to be found. Where did she go? How did she escape your vile machinations?”</p><p>Klaus began to laugh. “Your sources continue to disappoint. Were you not aware that our two sisters were traveling together for months? Rebekah and I had… I admit… a slight falling out but it’s nothing that some time apart won’t heal. I let her be free. And yet, you think me vile? What, then, do you think of the one who cursed us?”</p><p>“She was trying to make you all mortal again!” snapped Finn. “And you all refused her. It only proves how far you’ve fallen. But, I expect Rebekah will have a different response to her proposal. See, unlike the three of you, she always did cling properly to her humanity.”</p><p>Elijah growled, holding up the knife beside his fork. “Rebekah is off-limits to you. You pursue her, and you will suffer.”</p><p>That had made Klaus’s statement completely void. It ignited a clear suspicion in Finn that made Hilda glare venomously at Elijah. The four siblings were staring at him in shock, on top of that. He never acted this way. Hilda knew what might be causing it.</p><p>“Do not let him goad you, Elijah,” said Klaus calmly. “Neither he, nor Esther, will find Rebekah unless she wants to be found. And she does not.”</p><p>“Esther is quite determined,” said Finn. “We knew all about Hilda and Rebekah being off together, and since the day our mother returned, she searched for the two. Hilda returned on her own. Rebekah did not. I imagine it’s only a matter of time before our mother locates her.”</p><p>Elijah suddenly reached across the table and yanked Finn over it, sending the beignets and some grapes flying into the walls. Finn cried out as Elijah sank his fangs into his neck.</p><p>“Elijah!” Hilda screamed. She and Klaus dove forward and pulled them apart. Finn grasped a cloth from the table and pressed it against his own neck, the manacles slamming against his chest.</p><p>“Let’s have a chat, shall we?” said Klaus sternly, yanking both Elijah and Hilda out into the courtyard with him. He slammed Elijah into a pillar once they were far enough from their two brothers. “I enjoy a good bloodletting as much as anyone, but our brothers have power, as well as knowledge of Esther’s plans. We need them alive.”</p><p>“Imagine what they would do to Rebekah,” whispered Elijah. “To Hope.”</p><p>“I will do what I can to find out how Rebekah is doing,” promised Hilda, taking out her phone. “I had some very powerful spells done to cloak her.”</p><p>“Focus on the task at hand,” continued Klaus, glaring at Elijah. “We need to persuade our brothers.”</p><p>“I’m through with persuasion!” snapped Elijah, shoving him aside. Klaus gripped him by the shoulder and stopped him from leaving. “Has the Earth shifted on its axis? <em>You</em> needing restraint from <em>me</em>?”</p><p>Hilda had just begun to dial Rebekah’s number when she saw her sister was already calling her. She made a face of confusion and motioned for her brothers to listen. “Rebekah?” she said, holding the phone to her ear.</p><p>“I have the baby and we’re on the run,” Rebekah panted. “Esther found us. We're safe, for now— I've lost her bloody starlings, but I have no idea where to go.”</p><p>Klaus snatched the phone from Hilda. “Head west. I’ll call Hayley.”</p><p>“Do <em>not</em> tell Hayley!” Rebekah cried. “Esther's too smart for that. The only advantage that we have is that she thinks the baby died. Text me the plans.” </p><p>She hung up, and Hilda rubbed her temples. “Alright, well, you ought to get going to meet her, Klaus. Elijah and I can stay with Kol and Finn.”</p><p>“Absolutely not,” said Klaus. “The two of you, together with them, after what Esther did to your minds? They’ll be dead by nightfall and neither of you will realize it until it’s far too late.”</p><p>“Oh, come on, we’ll show restraint!” snapped Hilda. “Hope needs her father!”</p><p>Klaus put his hands on her shoulders. “What she needs… what we need… are allies to help us defeat our mother. It will be much easier to sway Kol to our side, but Finn is the one we have to get through to. I must be here. Without their help, there will be nowhere left for Hope to run.”</p><p>Hilda sighed loudly. “But Hope—”</p><p>“I have waited months to see my daughter,” interrupted Klaus. “I can wait one more day. Elijah and I will stay here with our brothers. You will go and retrieve Rebekah and Hope.”</p><p>“Do you really think that’s safe? I don’t think…”</p><p>“I trust you, Hilda,” said Klaus. “You helped Rebekah parent her for months. You, the sibling that we thought had no maternal inclination. You ought to be the one to go and get them.”</p><p>“Alright,” she said. “Fine— I’ll make my way to them.”</p><p>She texted Rebekah to meet her at a diner just outside of New Orleans and sped away, not needing a car, since Rebekah would most likely have one with a car seat in it.</p><p>She found the diner was quiet when she arrived. Only four customers were inside, and only one waitress and one cook seemed to be on duty. She sat at one of the booths and looked at the menu. When the waitress came around, she ordered herself a coffee and a cinnamon roll. She found herself playing games on her phone— a new version of Sudoku that sounded quite fun. She only looked up when someone sat down across from her.</p><p>The man was probably in his early forties, and he had a sickening smile. He must have thought she was just eighteen, since that was how old she looked. “Hey there, pretty,” he said. He reeked of alcohol and Hilda could hear his heart beating rapidly, as though he needed an increased rate to stay alive. His organs were likely damaged from drinking too much.</p><p>She glared at him. “Piss off, would you?”</p><p>“Aw, have we got a British girlie here? Or are you Australian?”</p><p>Hilda wished in that moment she could be a werewolf to flash amber eyes at him in warning. She growled, shutting off her phone and setting it down. “I said piss off.”</p><p>“I think the accent is more Australian,” he mused. She sensed movement and the next thing, she felt a coarse palm coming in contact with her bare thigh. He had reached under the table to touch her.</p><p>This time, she didn’t lose track of time. She didn’t forget anything. She knew exactly what she was doing and what sort of suffering she wanted to bring out.</p><p>She smacked him so hard that several teeth flew out, making him cough blood. He realized too late that he had highly underestimated her. She gripped at his hair and slammed his face down on the table before tossing him aside onto the nearby counter, pinning him face down onto it and twisting one of his arms behind him, making him yell as she broke his humerus in the process. “I ought to tear your limbs off, one by one,” she sneered in his ear.</p><p>“I-I’m sorry!” he stammered, the words not quite clear due to how much blood was in his mouth.</p><p>“Should have thought of that before you did it,” she spat. “Now, I’m lucky because I can defend myself pretty well. What if the girl had been human, hmm? What if it had been a defenseless teenager who had never taken a class in self defense, hmm? What would you have done then?” She whipped him around and stared into his eyes to compel him. “What would you have fucking done?”</p><p>“I would have taken her to my car,” he said, eyes wide when he realized he was speaking out against his own will. “Taken her to my home. Killed her after I had my way with her.”</p><p>Hilda’s eyes blazed with fury as she reached clean through his chest to tear out his heart. Behind her, the older woman in the far back booth let out a scream.</p><p>That was when Hilda lost it. Somehow, she managed to tear out the hearts of the three other customers. She fed from them until her belly was nearly bloated from how much she consumed. There was blood everywhere and the waitress and the cook where cowering behind the counter in fear, trying to dial 911 on their cell phones, which were covered in the crimson liquid that spurted all around when Hilda killed the first man. </p><p>When she realized what she had done, she began to panic again. The windows were fairly tinted and the few people on the streets could definitely not see what’d just happened.</p><p>Hilda grabbed the waitress and the cook. They screamed, thinking she was going to kill them. Instead, she compelled them to clean any messes behind the counter, silently, and to forget what she had done.</p><p>She got to work on doing her best to clean all the blood off of the tiled floors. She deposited the bodies in the dumpster out back and used a match from inside the kitchen to light them on fire. When she realized that the cushions of the booths would need proper scrubbing, she had the waitress take care of it while Hilda went to wash her own hands. Her clothes were covered in blood and she didn’t have anything else to wear.</p><p>She stared at herself in the mirror, panting heavily. She saw herself, but behind her were Mikael and Esther, speaking nothing, only staring menacingly as if reminding her that this was exactly why she deserved to be dead.</p><p>Her hands shook as she extracted her phone. It had already been several hours. Rebekah would be here any second. She looked back up at herself and nodded in an unspoken agreement with her apparently very active subconscious. She put her right hand over where her heart should be, and taking a deep breath, she jabbed her fingers in, hissing in pain as she tried to rip out her own heart.</p><p>She didn’t know if she was unsuccessful out of fear or something else. Perhaps the fear led to the hesitation. It hurt too much to do it to herself. Hilda’s eyes watered. This felt like the solution. Her heart would grow back, after all, and at least if she put herself down for awhile, it might help free her of Esther’s spell. She didn’t want to be a danger to Hope.</p><p>“Excuse me,” she heard a familiar voice saying out in the diner. “Did you see a woman in here? Looks about seventeen, has brown eyes and short brown hair? Usually has on some black boots?”</p><p>The waitress had been compelled too well. “I’m sorry, we’ve had a lot of customers today, I don’t recall seeing anyone like that.”</p><p>Rebekah sighed. “Hilly?” she called. “Are you in here?”</p><p>“Here,” gasped Hilda, taking her hand out of her chest. She heard the clicking of heels as Rebekah made her way to the bathroom.</p><p>“Oh, sweet Jesus,” gasped the younger Original, her hand flying to cover Hope’s eyes. By now, the bathroom floor was drenched in blood. “What the bloody hell happened?”</p><p>Hilda turned around and gulped. “I lost it, Rebekah. This… this man touched my leg and I killed him and three others. Their bodies must be completely burned by now… I can’t… I can’t control it. I thought I was better after seeing Kol but I’m not. You need to kill me.”</p><p>Rebekah gulped. “Alright, let me set Hope down in her carrier— I left it on one of the booths. I’ll snap your neck and—”</p><p>“No, Bex, I need you to rip my heart out,” Hilda said. “I’ll wake too soon if you just snap my neck. It’s not safe for me to be awake right now. Please, you’ve got to do it.”</p><p>Her sister nodded a bit uncertainly. “Alright… alright… like I said, let me go set Hope down. She shouldn’t see this.” She walked out and Hilda waited, pacing the bathroom and trying to mentally prepare herself. It would only be temporary pain and she’d wake up soon…</p><p>Rebekah came back in and Hilda turned to face her, closing her eyes. Rebekah bit her lip before shoving her hand into her sister’s chest, making Hilda croak out as her heart left her body.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>It was already the next day when she awoke, laying on an unfamiliar couch. The blood on her clothes was now dry.</p><p>She sat up and saw Rebekah on the armchair beside her, rocking a sleeping Hope. “You’re up,” she sighed in relief. “I was starting to wonder if your heart might refuse to grow back.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled. She felt a bit better, but she knew instantly that this had solved nothing. She still felt a lingering sensation of not being in control of herself. “Where are we?” she asked as calmly as she could muster.</p><p>“This is where Nik, Elijah, and I stayed after we fled from Mikael,” said Rebekah, caressing Hope’s head. </p><p>Hilda snorted. “Where’d you leave Kol, Finn, and I’s coffins? The attic?”</p><p>Rebekah shook her head. “No, Nik had already taken them elsewhere by then. Didn’t want Elijah or I to even think of waking any of you up after what happened.”</p><p>The elder Original stood, stretching her arms above her head. “Well, I ought to take a bath.”</p><p>“Do you feel better, Hilly? Honestly.”</p><p>“No,” she admitted. “Not really. I’ll probably tear apart the bathroom. But I’ve got to be clean.”</p><p>She went upstairs on her own, finding all the items that she needed. She checked her phone and saw only one text from Alaric, asking her if she was available to chat.</p><p>She dialed his number as she set out her bottles of shampoo and conditioner. “Hey,” he answered. “How are you feeling?”</p><p>“Not the greatest. But let's hope a warm shower will do something. I can’t believe getting my heart ripped out did nothing. It’s quite concerning. I think I’m on the verge of a very bad psychotic episode.” She added, jokingly, “might have to ask my siblings to dagger me so I can work it all out in my head.”</p><p>Alaric laughed. “Let’s hope not. Klaus might decide to leave you like that for a decade. How’s the holiday season treating you? Things are a bit… strange over here.”</p><p>“What’s happened?”</p><p>“Well… how do I put this… Damon’s alive and Jo’s a witch.”</p><p>
  <em>“What?”</em>
</p><p>“Basically… Damon was stuck in a prison world replica of 1994 and Jo gave up her magic after some problems with her Coven— she called it having ‘a tragically dysfunctional family.’”</p><p>“Wow, so basically she’s a Mikaelson without the vampire stuff.”</p><p>“Yeah. It seems her brother is a bit… crazy.”</p><p>Hilda raised her eyebrows. “Oh? What did he do?”</p><p>“He cut her spleen out.”</p><p>She whistled. “Damn. That’s got to hurt. But the Damon thing— what about Bonnie?”</p><p>“That’s the thing. Just yesterday we found out she’s still alive. We’re actually driving to Portland right now.”</p><p>
  <em>“We?”</em>
</p><p>“Hey there, Hilly Billy,” came Damon’s voice. “You’re still alive, I see.”</p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes. “Yes, Damon, have you forgotten I’m an Original?”</p><p>“He hasn’t forgotten,” came Stefan’s voice. “You have to hand it to him, though, he was pretty quiet. For a bit.”</p><p>“Hmm, I suppose. Didn’t realize he was there. What um, do you hope to accomplish in Portland?”</p><p>“We want to find some information on the Gemini Coven. That’s where Jo’s from and they’re tied to the prison world.”</p><p>“Hang on. Damon, you were in the prison world with Malachai Parker?”</p><p>There was silence. “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” said Damon. “Don’t tell me she knew about the Gemini Coven and Kai this <em>entire time</em> and we’re already almost in Portland.”</p><p>“I only found out about it recently when I was researching about siphons who could help remove the Traveler spell on Mystic Falls. That— that means he’s Jo’s <em>twin</em>.”</p><p>Alaric clearly had not known this. “That’s… a lot of information to process.”</p><p>“What are you even looking for?”</p><p>“The Ascendant— it’s this—”</p><p>“I know what an Ascendant is. Are you looking for it to get Bonnie out?”</p><p>“Bingo,” said Damon. “Somehow, her teddy bear full of magic got out of the prison world and I know she did it to keep Kai from getting out. If we can open it up, we can get her out and leave him in there. He’ll be stuck for another eighteen years or maybe eternity.”</p><p>“Is that really a good idea? Even if you get the Ascendant, there’s a risk she’s already dead, Damon.”</p><p>“What makes you say that?”</p><p>“He doesn’t need <em>her</em> magic to get out. All he needs is her blood.”</p><p>“How do you even <em>know</em> that?” said Damon incredulously. “Ric, seriously, is this woman a magic encyclopedia?”</p><p>“Damon, I’ve been studying all forms of magic since I could walk. I know the prison worlds were created by the Bennetts— Kol and I wrote a prototype of the spell centuries ago. We were using it in Africa long ago to create a place for those who were afflicted with magical curses. They would have been sent there because no magic could escape— they wouldn’t die, and it would give their Coven time to find the cure to their ailment. It didn’t go well but the point is, that spell must have landed in the hands of a Bennett witch or the Gemini Coven. As long as he has her blood, he only needs to siphon magic from another source to complete the spell.”</p><p>“Hang on— that’s impossible. There’s absolutely no way to get any magic there if not from Bonnie.”</p><p>“Look, I’m guessing you only stayed in Mystic Falls when you were there. But it’s called a prison <em>world</em> for a reason. Everything that existed in 1994 exists there and is in reach. If Kai were to know about all the dark objects Kol and I created that resided in New Orleans, or if he knew about magical locations in Greece and Rome that he could siphon from, or if he knew about the place where Silas was buried and found his tombstone, or if he knew about a place where a specific witch abandoned their magic—”</p><p>Damon swore loudly. “Damn it. Kai’s gotta know about something where he can draw magic from. He was there for eighteen years, there’s no way he doesn’t know. And on the off chance he has no idea of the multitude of places he could draw magic from—”</p><p>“You’ll only be giving him access to magic if you open the place up,” she finished. “Look, you honestly shouldn’t go through with this. Bonnie is smart, she can figure out a way to stay alive and get some magic for herself to get out without him.”</p><p>Alaric let out a sigh. “I knew we should have told Jo.”</p><p>“Are you kidding me, Ric? She would have never agreed to this!” said Damon.</p><p>Stefan seemed to take the phone from Damon. “Anything else that you think we ought to know?”</p><p>“If what I’ve read is correct, Malachai Parker is basically Kol and I, but in mortal form. We’re a tad worse but that's because of our vampiric nature. That’s not someone you want to let out into this world. He was abused as a kid for being a siphon and it triggered the darkest parts of him. That's basically what happened to Kol and I after Mikael mistreated us for so long. And I bet it was even worse for Malachai.”</p><p>“How about this,” said Damon as if he wanted to make a joke, “we get him and Bonnie out, and then you can come here and become Kai’s girlfriend to stop him from acting out. If he doesn’t listen to you, you can easily kill him.”</p><p>Stefan groaned loudly. “Damon, you have absolutely no filter. Did you <em>really</em> need to say that?”</p><p>“What? I was under the impression she and Ric are over. Not my fault that all I can think about is relationships being over because— oh! That’s right! <em>Ric compelled my girlfriend to forget me and now he’s human and can’t give her her memories back!</em>”</p><p>Alaric snatched the phone back. “I’m sorry,” he told her. “We’re taking up a lot of your time.”</p><p>Hilda chuckled lightly. “It’s fine. It helps more than you know, actually. Getting to talk about magic is useful to keep me sane.”</p><p>“Any chance you can come to Mystic Falls, Hilly Billy?” asked Damon. “We need your brain here.”</p><p>“Not happening, honey, sorry. I’m not even sure where I am right now. Probably not the best idea for me to be traveling. Listen, I’ll call you later, alright?”</p><p>“Sure,” replied Alaric. “Talk to you later. Thanks so much for your help.”</p><p>At least, when she hung up that time, it did make her feel a bit better.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Chapter 33</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>After her shower, Hilda got to cleaning.</strong>
</p><p>“Why must you always revert to cleaning and distractions as a coping mechanism?” asked Rebekah, following her around with Hope in her arms. “Relax, Hilly. Hayley and Klaus won’t be coming until tomorrow. Elijah might arrive tonight but I don’t know if that’ll happen— it’s fine.”</p><p>Hilda shook her head and continued to clean the inside of the unused oven. “If I can keep my hands busy, Bex, I won’t be able to think long enough to hurt anyone.”</p><p>Hope cooed and Rebekah knelt down so that Hilda could see her. She smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “You are just as adorable as always, princess.”</p><p>“Yes, Princess Hope,” agreed Rebekah. “I apologize, I couldn’t help but overhear. You were speaking to Alaric, Stefan, and… Damon?”</p><p>“Apparently. Why?”</p><p>“You should be with Alaric, Hilly. He obviously makes you happy. I haven’t seen you this excited since Tristan.”</p><p>“We’ve already gone over this, Bex. It’s not safe for him to be with me. And come on, he and Damon are best friends, do you want him to be my unofficial brother-in-law?”</p><p>Rebekah giggled. “Damon’s not the worst, you know. You fancied him when you first met him.”</p><p>Hilda shot her a cheeky grin. “Best not to remind me about the fact you didn’t even let me try for a chance with him.”</p><p>Her sister quickly shut up.</p><p>Rebekah remained occupied with Hope while Hilda bustled around the house, leaving it shining. In the evening, no one arrived, but they did get a text from Elijah letting them know that he, Hayley, and Klaus would indeed be on their way within the next few hours. They’d arrive in the morning.</p><p>“Excellent,” said Hilda as she pocketed her phone, the screen still cracked. Somehow, she didn’t feel like fixing it. “You know, I think we ought to do something interesting for Hope. It’s the holiday season and Hayley might like it if we did a little photoshoot…”</p><p>Rebekah was overjoyed. With the newly cleaned house, they had the best spots to take pictures, and Hilda had been able to find several decorations to form part of the backdrop.</p><p>“Aw, darling, you look so adorable,” said Rebekah, waving her hands over Hilda’s head as her sister held Rebekah’s phone to take pictures. Hope squealed and sat up happily, one hand in her mouth. They had found a little red dress for her, and had put a fake poinsettia to put atop her head. </p><p>“Hayley’ll love these photographs,” said Hilda, sending them to her. “Ah! Perfect, they said the traffic’s not too bad. They might arrive not long after sunrise. My, I can’t imagine how it must be, the three of them together in a car…”</p><p>They put Hope in a crib once nightfall hit so that she could sleep comfortably. The two sisters found some clean and new bottles of alcohol and remained in the living room, drinking and chatting.</p><p>“Here’s the thing,” said Rebekah after Hilda told her about what’d happened with Esther. “I like the idea of being human and being a mother. But there are so many disadvantages. We’ve grown so powerful and we’d be trading all that for fragility. Not to mention, it’s wonderful to have super hearing. I can hear the slightest change in Hope’s heartbeat and I’ll speed to her room and be there before she even begins to cry. It’s wonderful. If I were mortal again, I would have to wake up to cries because I wouldn’t be able to sense it beforehand.”</p><p>Hilda sipped some more bourbon. “That is a major lifehack. So many things can happen if you get pregnant… I hear your teeth can fall out and you can feel sick and just— <em>ugh</em>. Not something I would wish on anyone. If I ever wanted a child, I’d probably just adopt it from somewhere. Only, you have to promise not to fall in love with it like you did with Marcel.”</p><p>Rebekah’s eyes widened and she smacked her. “Excuse you!”</p><p>Hilda smirked. “Hey, listen, I’m just saying…”</p><p>“We didn’t do anything until he was a proper adult!”</p><p>“It’s alright, Bex, I know. Just teasing.”</p><p>“You and Kol can be so insufferable with the things you bring up. It’s like you seek to embarrass everyone.”</p><p>“Shh, teasing is healthy, Bex. Why aren’t you with him, anyway?”</p><p>Rebekah sighed. “It’s complicated. I don’t think he wants to be human, Hilly. But I do and that— well, it just doesn’t work. It’s like with you and Alaric. Except Marcel and I have so much history and it’s hard to let go of that.”</p><p>“I get it. It’s—”</p><p>Her phone began to ring and she saw it was Alaric. “I’ll head on to bed,” said Rebekah gently. “Have fun, Hilly.”</p><p>She walked off before Hilda could ask her to stay. Leaning back on the couch, Hilda answered the phone.</p><p>“Hello?” she said.</p><p>“Hi.”</p><p>The voice was unfamiliar and Hilda straightened up. “Who is this?” she asked a bit sharply.</p><p>“Jo.”</p><p>The Original’s mouth felt dry. “Oh. Hi, Jo. I didn’t expect—”</p><p>“Sorry… I just… I wanted to talk to you. Alaric was um, telling me about you and I guess I… I just wanted to hear it from you.”</p><p>“There’s nothing going on between us,” Hilda said immediately. “I promise. I know he fancies you and I want you two to be together and if you want me to back off, I will, I don’t want to ruin anything—”</p><p>“No, it’s not that. He explained that and I’m not worried. He told me about what you know of the Gemini Coven.” There was a pause. Jo sounded agitated. “Do… do you think Kai can really get out? I haven’t practiced magic in so long and there is so much I don’t know. I was just told I’d be free if I betrayed him. I took the Ascendant to protect myself and he was imprisoned. But… I realize now that I know nothing about prison worlds.”</p><p>Hilda felt a great sense of relief washing over her. This was an easier conversation to have. “I know for a fact there is a copy of every Ascendant in the prison world. If you were in Portland when he was sent in, and you were all standing there with him and the Ascendant was in hand, that same Ascendant would have been right there in Portland with him. Somehow, he ended up in Mystic Falls but from what it sounds like, he does have the Ascendant, and he does have Bonnie Bennett. If he finds a way to get magic, he’ll only need her blood to get out.”</p><p>Jo let out a shaky sigh. “So it doesn’t matter whether I keep the Ascendant hidden or not.” There was a clicking sound that suggested she was holding it in her hands at that very moment. “He can get out. There is a way.”</p><p>“That’s the unfortunate thing about magic. There are always loopholes. There’s basically always a way to get out of bad situations. From what it sounds like, Kai is pretty brilliant. And if he’s been alone in there for eighteen years… he’s had time to work through his emotions, to learn things, to devise a plan. Everything would have been fine if Damon and Bonnie hadn’t somehow been sent in there. But now…”</p><p>“I can’t believe it… I don’t want to. I thought I was safe at last. That he could never hurt me.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, Jo. I wish there was something I could do.”</p><p>“I… I wish there was an easier solution. They’re talking about going in and getting Bonnie. If they manage to leave Kai behind, all will be well. But he can get out himself, before then. He can also tag along. It’s such a risk. One that I don’t want to take. I don’t feel safe giving this Ascendant away even if I’m in just as much danger with it.”</p><p>“That Ascendant belongs to you. You don’t have to feel obligated to give it to anyone. You don’t have to feel like you have to do anything with it. That’s your choice and no one can take that from you.”</p><p>“Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it. Honestly, I wish you could be over here… I’d feel a lot better if I had someone this experienced in magic beside me. At least if Kai gets out, I’ll feel safe.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled to herself. “I’m just a phone call away. You can save my number in your phone if you’d like, I don’t mind. If things clear up over here, I promise I’ll make my way there.”</p><p>“Oh— no, I don’t want to pull you away from your family, they’re your priority. I hear things are pretty bad…”</p><p>“They sort of are. But I’m pretty used to my parents wanting to murder me… so I’ll cope, somehow.”</p><p>“Listen… I want us to be able to be friends,” said Jo. “If… you wouldn’t mind. I don’t want to be the girl who can’t even look at anyone who her boyfriend had a thing with.”</p><p>Hilda tried to act unfazed. “Ooh, you two are official now? I bet you had to ask him.”</p><p>Jo laughed. “Well, it just sort of became a thing, neither of us really said anything.”</p><p>“I’m really happy for you. I would love to be friends. If I am able to go to Whitmore soon, I’d really like it if we could meet for coffee or something.”</p><p>“That sounds fantastic. Well— I won’t keep you any longer. Thanks for this. It was really nice to get to talk to you, Hilda.”</p><p>“It was nice to talk to you, too, Jo.”</p><p>Jo hung up, and Hilda looked up to see Rebekah standing in the doorway, gaping at her. “He just let her talk to you without a warning? That’s dickish.”</p><p>“Oh, come on, Bex, there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Hilda, taking a deep breath. “I don’t mind. She just needed help. Nothing the matter with that…” She stood up and brushed past her sister, but Rebekah caught her arm. “You’re jealous, Hilly. I know that look.”</p><p>Hilda wrenched her arm out of her grip. “I am <em>not</em> jealous. Just… surprised.”</p><p>“You didn’t think you’d ever have to talk to her,” Rebekah said in understanding. “You thought that by the time you spoke to her or met her, you’d be over him already.”</p><p>Hilda felt like slapping her. “Seriously, Rebekah, I really don’t want to talk about this right now, okay? Good night.”</p><p>She knew she shouldn’t have snapped, but it felt out of her control. It was as though someone had ignited a fire in her stomach— it ached and she needed to let out the anger that was bottled up. Of course she was jealous, how could she not be? But it was wrong. She shouldn’t be jealous of Jo. Jo was good. Alaric and Jo deserved each other and Hilda didn’t want to ruin that.</p><p>She had no nightmares that night, but she still couldn’t sleep. She kept wondering whether Jo really liked her or was just saying that. </p><p>In the morning, Hilda acted as though everything was normal, even though she felt incredibly exhausted and paranoid. She took care of Hope and made breakfast while Rebekah rushed around outside, doing who knows what.</p><p>When she got a text from Hayley telling her that they were nearly there, she came outside and found Rebekah had set up a stack of firewood.</p><p>“Is that what I think it is?” she asked, bouncing Hope on her hip.</p><p>“It’s bonfire season!” said Rebekah happily. “And I am reviving a family tradition, especially since we’re all going to be together.”</p><p>Hilda cast her a tight-lipped smile. “Not all… but most.”</p><p>Rebekah sighed loudly. “I’m sorry, alright, Hilly? I shouldn’t have brought up what I did yesterday. I made you feel uncomfortable and it was wrong of me.”</p><p>Hilda shrugged, not wanting to say it was fine yet, and looked out as a black SUV made its way toward them. It didn’t even get to come up the driveway properly because just as Klaus started to stop the car, Hayley rushed out from the front seat, sprinting towards the two sisters. Klaus and Elijah got out more calmly from behind her. The younger hybrid stopped a few feet in front of them, staring at her daughter in shock. Hilda offered her a smile and moved forward, handing her the baby.</p><p>“Hi,” whispered Hayley, taking Hope in her arms and pulling her into her chest, breathing a sigh of relief. She turned to face Klaus, who seemed to be tearing up. He stepped forward and smiled as Hayley held Hope up. He leaned down to kiss her forehead gently before looking up. “I’m afraid we have much to discuss.”</p><p>Hilda and Rebekah frowned. “What happened?”</p><p>“We’ve had the most… interesting revelation with our eldest brother. It would appear that there is a curse placed on the firstborns of each generation of Mikaelsons.”</p><p>Rebekah made a face. “Curse on the first-borns? What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?”</p><p>“Well,” said Klaus, “according to Finn, our sister Freya didn't die of plague. She was taken as payment by our aunt Dahlia, who then cursed all Mikaelson first-borns for eternity.”</p><p>Hilda furrowed her eyebrows. “I’ve heard of a famous ancient witch named Dahlia but I had no idea she was our aunt.”</p><p>“So does that mean that what Finn said is true?” gasped Hayley.</p><p>“It is if we are to believe Finn,” said Elijah, “who learned it from the bastion of truth— our mother.”</p><p>Rebekah crossed her arms and moved back to where she had more pieces of firewood waiting on the porch. “Well, no wonder Finn hates us. He lost the sister he adored, and instead got a judgy pack of siblings who found him unbearably <em>dull. </em>That explains why he likes Hilly most. If she really does look like Freya…”</p><p>“What I’m most concerned about,” said Hilda, “is this apparent aunt Dahlia. She must still be alive. She might hurt Hope.”</p><p>Klaus held his hands up. “No one’s going to hurt Hope, because no one is going to find her.” He watched as Rebekah brought another small log into the bonfire stack. “There’s enough wood, Rebekah. You'll burn down the whole bloody state of Arkansas.”</p><p>Rebekah rubbed her hands together excitedly. “Well, we're just missing a key ingredient!”</p><p>“No, we’re not,” Klaus sighed.</p><p>“Yes we are, Nik!” Rebekah insisted. “Back me up, Elijah!”</p><p>Elijah chuckled. “I suspect Niklaus would rather choke on the ashes.”</p><p>Hayley raised her eyebrows. “What are you all talking about?”</p><p>“Well,” said Hilda, “before we light it, we have this tradition to write down our wishes for each other to burn for luck. It was Kol and I’s favorite part when we were kids.”</p><p>Klaus scoffed. “It's further evidence as to why we should ignore it!”</p><p>“Oh, don’t make me slap you, Nik,” sighed Hilda irritably.</p><p>Hayley looked excited. “Hope’s first bonfire season. I like it, we’re doing it.” Holding her daughter close, she walked into the house, making the two Mikaelson sisters smirk at their brother.</p><p>Klaus sighed and followed Hayley in. Elijah stepped forward. “Hilda, are you feeling well?”</p><p>“Not much better,” she said honestly. “But I’ll hopefully be alright. You?”</p><p>“Not much better, either. I couldn’t sleep the entire way here. I keep seeing… flashes.”</p><p>Hilda winced. “I don’t think there’s much we can do but work through it. We’d need to know Kol is going to help protect Hope before we ask him to do a spell on us to counteract the effects. I suppose it’s something therapy might fix.”</p><p>Rebekah snorted. “You two attending therapy? I’d love to imagine the sight of that.”</p><p>Hilda and Elijah each shot her a cheeky smile before heading into the house. The two each got a paper and pencil from Hayley and went to sit in the parlor, propping up their sheets on a small table between the armchairs they lowered themselves into.</p><p>“I believe it might be a requirement to wish for Hope’s safety,” mused Elijah as he began to write in elegant cursive. “I shall also wish for your sanity.”</p><p>Hilda wiggled her pencil in her hand. “I’ll wish for your sanity, too, then. Hmm… safety for Hope. A way for Rebekah to be human and have a baby but without a bad pregnancy. For Klaus and Hayley to not have to be apart from their daughter anymore. For Finn to see reason and help us. For Kol to be free to be with Davina.”</p><p>Elijah smiled. “I like the sound of those.”</p><p>“Hey, come up with your own! No bloody point in copying.”</p><p>“My dear sister, those are good wishes. Why not reinforce it? Ensure they come true?”</p><p>“This happens every time,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Every time. Kol and I will say something really good and you all copy.”</p><p>“Forgive us for not being as creative when it comes to ideas,” said Elijah, still grinning as he wrote down what she’d said.</p><p>When they were all done, they went back outside. Klaus used a match to light the bonfire, and Rebekah held up a Polaroid camera she had found. “I wonder if it’ll work?” she asked aloud, making Elijah and Klaus groan.</p><p>“Oh, bloody hell,” said Klaus, turning away with his hands on his hips.</p><p>“Come on, let’s try it!” said Rebekah. “Hey, Nik, do you think you can cram us all into a selfie?”</p><p>Elijah smirked. “Oh, Niklaus is a virtuoso at cramming his siblings into confined spaces.”</p><p>Hilda snickered and nudged him as she stood between him and Rebekah. “He’s the right man for that job.”</p><p>Klaus rolled his eyes and took the camera. “Well, I’m just glad I traveled hundreds of miles with my mentally ill brother to visit my even more mentally ill sister, only to have them both insult me to my face!”</p><p>“Oh, come on, just take the picture!” Rebekah whined.</p><p>Klaus held the camera up with a loud sigh. Hilda, Rebekah, Elijah, and Hayley tried to put on a smile, but Klaus remained blank-faced as he snapped the photo, bringing the camera down and waiting for the photo to develop. Once it did, he plucked it out and showed it to them.</p><p>“Aw, see?” said Rebekag. “I wish that it could always be like this.”</p><p>“If wishes were horses…” started Elijah.</p><p>“...beggars would ride,” finished Klaus. He looked away from the picture. “You realize we'll have to burn it. You want me to make a wish for the family, Rebekah? I wish it didn't have to be like this. But, it does.” He pushed the photo into Hayley’s hands. “We can't risk it falling into the wrong hands.”</p><p>Hayley and Elijah shared a saddened look. The younger hybrid stared down at the slip in her hands before tossing it into the fire.</p><p>“No, this isn’t right,” muttered Rebekah. “We deserve this. We’ve earned this. I won’t let it slip away. I know what to do to stop Esther.”</p><p>Hilda tensed. “Bex, no—”</p><p>“I’m going to take her deal,” said Rebekah firmly. “And when I do, I’m taking her down with me.”</p><p>“No, you’re not!” Hilda insisted. “I’ll take the deal instead of you. I’ll be a witch like Kol—”</p><p>“Don’t be ridiculous, you don’t actually want to be human! I do, and it’s okay, Hilly, I don’t mind.”</p><p>“You can’t pretend it’s fine, Bex, because it isn’t. You want to be human but not now.”</p><p>“It’s final, I’m doing it!” Rebekah held her hand up to stop her from continuing. “And I think I have the perfect plan in mind to subdue her. We’ll turn her!”</p><p>The siblings and Hayley stared at her in shock. “I’m sorry, what?” said Hayley. “What do you mean you’ll turn her?”</p><p>“Think,” said Rebekah. “if we turn her into a vampire, she can’t do magic and can’t hurt us anymore!”</p><p>Hilda wove her hands in the air. “Wait, wait— but how? How are you going to get her to let her bloody guard down?”</p><p>“With Kol’s help. We can’t trust Finn, but he will help. It’s less risky if I do it, because I actually don’t mind being human. It can’t be you, Hilly. You can help with— with— the preparation! Yes, we need to have her distracted during the spell, I’ll slip her my blood, she’ll be vulnerable, and we turn her.”</p><p>“No,” Klaus snapped. “If we kill her, she body jumps.”</p><p>Rebekah shrugged. “Then we stop her from jumping.”</p><p>Klaus scoffed. “If I knew how to bloody stop her from jumping, don't you think I would have happily murdered her ages ago?”</p><p>“Well, ages ago, you didn't have a Harvest girl or a Mikaelson witch. Kol knows all of her tricks and if Hilda helps, we’ll be able to stop her from jumping.”</p><p>“If we get this wrong, you’d no longer be in your own body!” said Elijah. “Are you betting on stopping the spell before you jump?”</p><p>“Yes,” said Rebekah. “I’m willing to risk losing.”</p><p>Hilda rubbed her temples. “Alright, but if she’s going to risk jumping, we need to find someone for her to jump into. Someone no one would know, someone who can disappear with Hope if necessary.”</p><p>Elijah held his hand up. “Rebekah, think this through. We’ve been together for centuries. If you were human—”</p><p>Rebekah rolled her eyes. “When I'm old and wrinkly, you can dump me back into my old body. Nik already has a coffin he can store me in.</p><p>Elijah crossed his arms. “But to trust Kol? I would feel no worry if Hilda was in your position, but you…”</p><p>“It’s not about trust, Elijah, it’s about finding the proper leverage,” said Rebekah.</p><p>Klaus scratched his chin. “She’s right. Kol will do what’s best for Kol. We just have to meet his price…” He pulled out his phone, finding a number and dialing it. “Ah, Kol,” he said when he answered. “I believe there is something you can help us with. How do you fancy helping us turn our mother into one of Rebekah’s sirelings?”</p><p>There was a pause. “Sounds brilliant,” said Kol. “But what do I get out of it?”</p><p>Klaus chuckled. “I knew you’d say that.” He handed the phone to Hilda. </p><p>“Kol?” she said, holding it to her ear. “We need this to happen. Please.”</p><p>“Tell Nik I want the Fauline diamond,” whispered Kol, though the others heard him perfectly fine.</p><p>Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah shared a look. “The Fauline diamond,” Hilda repeated, a dark glint of excitement in her eyes. “The one Marcel and Klaus took from us in 1914?”</p><p>“The very same one. That paragon diamond is good spell fuel. Now that I’m a witch and I have Davina, it can come in handy. We can use it for some spells that’ll benefit Nik, even.”</p><p>Klaus seemed to like this. “Alright,” he said, taking the phone back. “You’ll get your diamond. We’ll call you once we’re on our way to you, understood? We expect your full cooperation.”</p><p>“Fine by me, Nik.”</p><p>Klaus hung up and smirked, tapping his phone against his palm. “He wants the diamond,” he mused, looking at Hilda. “Can you think of why he would want the diamond?”</p><p>“He fancies Davina,” she said smoothly. “Giving her something like that to use for spells is better than any trinket he could buy for her.”</p><p>The hybrid laughed lowly. “I am no idiot, sister,” he said. “You two want to finish that dagger.”</p><p>“We won’t do it,” she lied. “Davina’s in the picture now, he won’t want to use the diamond for that.”</p><p>Klaus clasped his hands together. “No, you’re quite right… Kol and Davina wouldn’t use the diamond for that… but if you’re in the picture, well, that dagger will be made by the <em>three</em> of you. And we can’t have that, can we?”</p><p>Too late, Hilda realized what was happening. She tried to run and Elijah grabbed her arms. “Stop!” she shrieked, seeing Klaus extracting one of the daggers, and a small vial of white oak ash. “No— no— please—”</p><p>“I’m sorry, Hilly,” said Rebekah sadly. “But I did hear you tell Alaric that daggering you might help you work it all out in your head.”</p><p>“And we saw that evil little glint in your eyes when Kol mentioned the diamond,” said Klaus, dipping the blade into the ash. Hayley looked like she might be sick to her stomach, but was clutching Hope and did not think to intervene. “Come to think of it, this is the first time you’ll have ever been daggered without him…”</p><p>“Nik, please,” whimpered Hilda, trying to get out of Elijah’s hold. “D-Don’t do this, Kol won’t help you—”</p><p>“On the contrary, he <em>will</em>,” said Klaus, holding the dagger over her heart. “Because he’s not going to find out.” He used his free hand to snatch her phone, shutting it completely off before handing it to Rebekah. “And neither will Alaric.”</p><p>He plunged the dagger into her heart, and her scream made Hope cry.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. Chapter 34</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Truth be told, Klaus was terrified at the prospect of waking Hilda up.</strong>
</p><p>“Klaus, seriously?” snapped Hayley. “You already confined me to the Compound and now you won’t do the one simple thing I asked of you?”</p><p>Klaus held up his finger. “Do not chastise me for this! You are confined here because a queen does not run. Must I remind you that you are getting married tonight? Camille and Elijah are already on the way with Hope.”</p><p>“Okay, fine, I get it, but I asked you to wake her up. It’s been a month and a half, Rebekah already did a spell to ease her mind— I want her to be at the wedding! Is that so wrong of me? I like your sisters. And Rebekah already said she can’t be there because she’s helping someone out with something and I just want someone there. Please.”</p><p>The Original hybrid growled and rubbed his face. “She’ll bloody murder me,” he sneered lowly. “She’ll do it right in front of everyone, ruining your ceremony.”</p><p>Hayley scoffed. “And whose fault is that? You daggered her! Rebekah had no right to eavesdrop on a private conversation she had with Alaric.”</p><p>“Rebekah had every right to listen in!” he snapped. “You do not know our family all that well, Hayley. You think Hilda is a proper angel for raising our daughter but she and Kol are the worst of the lot— they switch around and stab others in the back as long as it won’t inconvenience them.”</p><p>“Shut up!” Hayley growled, her eyes flashing amber. “Hear me out! No, I don’t know the twins the way you do, but if there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s the fact that Hilda is changing. She spent months protecting our daughter and she didn’t like kids when she started that out. Now, she’s sweet and gentle with her. You and your sister clearly don’t get along very well but you know what, Klaus? She’s here. Granted, daggered in the dungeons below, but she’s in New Orleans. You and I both know she would rather be in Mystic Falls. She pushed aside her own happiness for you and for Hope, again. Do you not see the look on her face every time she’s around us? She wants to feel resentful but the guilt of that eats her alive.”</p><p>“Did you not see how Kol reacted when he found out she was daggered?” Klaus exclaimed. “He pulled a bloody ‘prank’ and Rebekah ended up in the body of some witch in an asylum! We’ve got enough problems with our other sister roaming around with Finn.”</p><p>“Do you blame him? You daggered his twin. They got to see each other <em>once</em> before she went to another state to protect Hope. Does that mean nothing to you? I didn’t see her right after she lost him but she lost a part of herself that day. And it was just coming back now that he returned and you went and took Kol’s favorite sister away from him. Then, you left him to die with hungry vampires who were trapped in here. What would have happened if they would have killed him and she woke up to find him dead? Obviously, he retaliated by taking your favorite sister from you. I would have done the exact same thing!”</p><p>Klaus made to retort, but Hayley held her hand up. “Speaking of that, I am so sick of you calling ‘favorites.’ They’re all your siblings and don’t you realize how hurt Hilda feels when you continuously remind her that she’s not your favorite anything? She sacrificed a life with someone she liked for you. Someone she doesn’t even trust. She was just opening up. She told me about what almost happened to her. She’s been traumatized for centuries and you haven’t helped her one bit. And just when she’s getting back in her comfort zone, you ruin it.”</p><p>Klaus turned away from her. “Fine,” he murmured lowly. “You go wake her. If she catches sight of me too soon, she’ll leave that white dress of yours covered in my blood.”</p><p>Hayley was more than happy to trot downstairs and find the coffin where Hilda lay, in a state of desiccation. She opened the lid and removed the dagger, reaching into the cooler behind her for a blood bag. She opened it and pressed it against Hilda’s lips.</p><p>Her eyes snapped open and she wrenched the bag from her grip, drinking hungrily, the blackened veins under her eyes quite prevalent as color flooded back into her face.</p><p>It was clear that Hilda was furious, but seeing Hayley, her initial anger dissipated. “How long as it been this time?” she muttered. </p><p>“A month and a half,” said Hayley calmly, offering Hilda her arm to help her get out of the coffin.</p><p>Hilda looked surprised. “That’s a new record for shortest time ever daggered.”</p><p>“What was the record before?”</p><p>“Five years.”</p><p>Hayley pursed her lips as Hilda walked back upstairs, stopping in her tracks as she saw several compelled servants and werewolves setting up decorations. “What the bloody hell is happening?” said Hilda. “Don’t tell me they’re throwing me a party.”</p><p>The hybrid laughed lightly. “No… um, Jackson and I are getting married, actually.”</p><p>Hilda’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh. Wow… why?”</p><p>“There’s this Unification Ritual thing for the wolves… it can get the werewolves out of Finn’s control. Anyone present will be able to share my ability to control their turning. We have wolves from all over coming to attend. And…” she clasped her hands together, “I convinced Klaus to let me wake you up so that you could attend. It would mean a lot to me to have your support.”</p><p>The mention of Klaus made Hilda’s lip twitch, but her expression immediately softened. “Of course,” she said quietly. “I’ll be there on your special day. Where are… my pesky siblings?”</p><p>“I have no idea where Klaus is, but Elijah and Cami are on their way from Arkansas with Hope. Rebekah said she was helping someone out with something… but didn’t say who. By the way, she’s not in her body anymore. Your twin sent her to a random witch’s body— some woman who was trapped in the Dowager Fauline Cottage.”</p><p>Hilda snorted. “Serves her right. Rebekah’s stabbed me in the back far too many times. Goes to show that it doesn’t mean shit to have a sister…”</p><p>“Speaking of that,” Hayley piped up, beckoning for Hilda to follow her upstairs. “Your other sister is here. Freya.”</p><p>Hilda frowned. “What? What the bloody hell do you mean by that?”</p><p>“I mean, she’s not dead of plague. She’s here in New Orleans and she’s clearly been hanging out with Finn.”</p><p>“Well, let’s hope this sister is nicer to me,” muttered Hilda under her breath. “Where’s Kol?”</p><p>“I think I heard he was spending the day with Davina in the Claire tomb. She told Josh to tell me that the two of them will be coming to the wedding, so he’ll be here tonight.”</p><p>Hilda smiled and made her way to her room, Hayley ahead of her. “Perfect.” </p><p>“I took the liberty of cleaning it for you,” said the hybrid when they arrived. “And I took your phone to be fixed at a repair shop down the street.”</p><p>“Thank you,” said Hilda, stepping in and going to her closet to pick a dress to wear. “I expect I’ll have to explain a lot to Alaric…”</p><p>“I already contacted him,” said Hayley. “I still have Tyler Lockwood’s number, and he got me connected with Alaric. He was really worried, but he was glad to know you were okay, just sleeping.”</p><p>Hilda offered her a smile. “I really appreciate it, Hayley. It’s nice to know not everyone in this family is terrible.”</p><p>“Anytime,” said Hayley. “They may not be willing to forget whatever happened in the past, but I know one thing for sure— you protected my daughter and I trust you. I also want to say… I’m sorry. I should have stopped them.”</p><p>“Look, I’m not going to hold it against you,” said Hilda. “Trust me, as much as I would have liked you to intervene, that would have been very unwise. Nik hates when someone tries to stop him from daggering one of us.”</p><p>Hayley half-smiled. “Still. I should have done something. I won’t let it happen again, I promise.”</p><p>It gave Hilda a very warm feeling to know that Hayley was so kind. She felt loads better, but she wouldn’t admit that to any of her siblings. She wouldn’t give them that satisfaction.</p><p>The two women went downstairs once Hayley had helped Hilda what dress to wear. Jackson had just arrived, and he waved politely at Hilda before smiling and leaning onto Hayley, watching the decorators putting up some more banners. “Ohh, I <em>so</em> do not belong in your world…”</p><p>Hayley scoffed and nudged him. “<em>My</em> world? Give me <em>some</em> credit. I'm not exactly the girl who sat around fantasizing about her wedding day. And, if I had? It <em>probably</em> would have looked a little less... this.” She then faced Hilda. “No offense.”</p><p>“None taken,” she said, crossing her arms. “I’m not the biggest fan of all the luxury, honestly. Maybe it’s because Kol and I weren’t as used to it. We like a humble lifestyle. Small house. Quiet neighborhood. Not shouting about who we are. Not telling people we have money. Casual. Lowkey.” She patted both Hayley and Jackson’s shoulders and walked off toward the entrance hall to give them some privacy.</p><p>She heard the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway, and saw Klaus walking out from one of the hallways beside her as two doors opened. Elijah and Cami came in, with Hope in tow, smiling.</p><p>“Hey, princess,” said Hilda, going to take the baby from Cami and rubbing her back. “How are you? You’re so big! Almost a year old already, imagine that.”</p><p>She refrained from looking at either brother, and focused her attention on Cami. “How was the drive?”</p><p>“It was good,” said Cami, clearly getting the memo about Hilda’s hostility with her siblings. She walked with her toward where Hayley and Jackson were coming over. Hilda smiled and handed Hope to Hayley, who sighed in content and held her close before taking her over to Jackson. “Hope, this is Jackson,” the hybrid whispered. “Jackson, this is Hope.”</p><p>“Hilda.” </p><p>She didn’t turn at the sound of Elijah’s voice. “I’m going to go get ready for the wedding,” she said to Cami. “I’ll be in my room. I’d rather not be disturbed.”</p><p>She sped up and locked the door behind her, hoping her brothers wouldn’t try to follow her. She didn’t want to see them.</p><p>She took a shower first, then sat down in front of her vanity, laying out her makeup. She pulled out her phone, turning it back on. She had about thirty missed calls and texts from Alaric, which made her smile. She dialed his number.</p><p>“You’re awake,” he answered, panting as if he ran a marathon. </p><p>“And you’re out of breath,” she observed, laughing lightly. “What happened?”</p><p>“I ran out of my classroom to answer the call,” he said very seriously. “Kidding, I’m on a run. Have to keep in shape now that I’m not immortal.”</p><p>“Lovely. So, what’s been happening?”</p><p>“Jeez, where to begin? Kai got out of the prison world—”</p><p>“<em>What?</em> Bloody fucking hell, and you’re <em>alive</em>?”</p><p>“For now. He confronted us pretty soon after he got here. This punk ass kid sucked up all the Traveler magic from Mystic Falls, so on the plus side, we can go into the city again, but, well, it didn’t go so well. He wanted to Merge with Jo— it was either them or Liv and Luke, Jo’s younger siblings. So Jo, being selfless as always, took back her magic and was being trained to try and beat Kai.”</p><p>“Pause— she’s going through with it?! He’ll demolish her! She may have been born a full witch but there’s no way she’s stronger than him.”</p><p>“No, she didn’t go through with it. She was going to, but um, she wasn’t the best with the magic stuff. Kai Merged with Luke instead. So… Kai won, and Luke is dead. But he hasn’t shown his face since. We don’t know what’s happening but Kai’s probably planning something. Bonnie’s not back yet… we think she may be trapped over there, permanently.”</p><p>“Damn… that’s terrible. But I think I have a theory. Kai might be experiencing some side effects.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Well,” said Hilda, “we know he was supposed to Merge with Jo, not Luke. That might result in some pretty bad upset stomachs. His senses will be heightened. He’ll have permanent magic inside of him. It’ll take some adjusting.”</p><p>Alaric sighed loudly. “That sounds fucking terrible. A problem waiting to happen… how can someone do something like that? Kill four of their siblings?”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “Honestly, Kol and I would have done away with our siblings if they weren’t immortals. After awhile… being the most disliked and the one that gets treated worse… it takes over you. That rage. You lose sense of right and wrong and all you can think of is making them hurt. Ending them. Our minds are fucked up and we lash out to feel better. Change is possible, but we have to want to change. Kol and I can be better around people we care about but if Kai doesn’t care about anyone… then it’ll be even harder for him. Why would he give a damn when no one has ever shown him decency? Kol and I at least had each other. Kai had no one. His own twin sister betrayed him. I… I really do almost understand how he felt. But still, that’s not right. He knows that. Kol and I know that.”</p><p>Alaric gave a weak chuckle. “You are loads better than Kai, that’s for sure. Deadlier, too, which is honestly cooler. But at least you pause to think about who you’re hurting… most times.”</p><p>“Are you afraid of me, Alaric?”</p><p>He was silent for a moment. “I think, now that I’m a human, a part of me wants to be afraid because I can’t defend myself in the same way. But I know in my <em>soul</em> that you wouldn’t hurt me. No matter how bad you make yourself seem. I’m not scared of you, Hilda. I trust you, and so does Jo. You’ve shown all of us that you’re more than just the most psychopathic of the Mikaelsons. There is so much kindness in you. You’ve backed your family up countless times after everything they’ve done to you and it’s admirable that you stand up for them and your niece. She’s fortunate to have an aunt like you.”</p><p>Hilda smiled to herself. “Thanks. I’m glad that at least someone seems to appreciate me.”</p><p>“Your siblings are idiots, honestly. I would say come to Mystic Falls but I think Kai might be a problem. But… well, actually, maybe you two might become best friends and that might help us…”</p><p>Hilda giggled. “Oh, yes, I’m sure you’d love for me to become best friends with your future brother-in-law.”</p><p>“Hey, if it makes him not kill Jo, it might be nice. I’m really worried he’s going to find a way to kill her even if he managed to Merge with Luke.”</p><p>“Keep her close by. Don’t trust him, no matter what. I may find a lot of similarities between him and myself but he’s not me. He has basically no remorse. Don’t engage with him. If he seeks you out… that might be cause for worry.”</p><p>“I’ll remain vigilant. What are you up to right now?”</p><p>“Oh! I’m doing my makeup. Hayley and Jackson are getting married. Hayley convinced Klaus to let me wake up for this.”</p><p>“Make sure to catch the bouquet. Maybe you can set it on fire and toss it in Klaus’s face.”</p><p>“Ooh, brilliant idea, I might have to take you up on that.”</p><p>They didn’t end the call until Hilda realized the wedding was almost about to start. She bade him a quick goodbye and slipped on her dress before going out into the balcony. She saw Klaus and Elijah in fancy suits, leaning on the railings and looking down where the double staircase had been set up for the ceremony. She ignored their stares and moved down to where she found Davina, in a blue velvet dress, sitting with Josh, one of Marcel’s vampires, and his boyfriend Aiden, one of the wolves.</p><p>“May I join you?” asked Hilda, gesturing toward the empty seat beside Davina.</p><p>“Sure,” she said, looking back over her shoulder. “If Kol comes… we’ll scoot down.”</p><p>Hilda furrowed her brows. “What do you mean ‘if’? I was told he was coming.”</p><p>Davina sighed. “I don’t know. Your brother tends to say he’ll be somewhere then he doesn’t end up going.”</p><p>“That’s not normal,” said Hilda immediately. “Kol isn’t like Elijah but he does keep his word. If he said he’d be here…”</p><p>“I’m sure he just couldn’t find anything to wear,” said Davina. “He’s probably still at the Claire tomb.” She leaned in to whisper in her ear. “We finished the dagger.”</p><p>Hilda perked up. “Did you? Marvelous.”</p><p>“He said he wanted it ready by the time you woke up. He was not happy to hear Klaus daggered you. So, we made sure that you’d be able to defend yourself once you were awake.”</p><p>The Original smiled gratefully. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”</p><p>The two went silent as the crowd stood, seeing Hayley and Jackson had walked up at the end of the aisle. Hands clasped together, the two began to walk down as the orchestra played. Each went up a separate staircase and came together at the top, where Jackson’s grandmother Mary was presiding the ceremony. “Please, be seated,” she said once they were both in front of her.</p><p>The guests sat down. “We gather together as a community seeking peace, inspired by this couple standing before you,” said Mary. “There was a time when werewolves saw themselves not as cursed, but blessed with connection to our most pure selves. And tonight, we honor that blessing with the long-awaited unification of the two Crescent bloodlines.”</p><p>Hayley and Jackson took each other’s hands to let Mary bind them together with baby’s breath flowers. “In doing so,” continued Mary, “we choose to embrace Hayley's vampire nature. With this union, Hayley will share her unique gifts with her pack.” She gestured for the couple to use their linked hands to take a long match, with a gentle flame atop it. “And now, your vows.”</p><p>Jackson drew a deep breath. He was looking at Hayley with such love in his eyes, Hilda felt like she wanted to tear up. “I pledge to honor you,” he said, “and defend you and yours above all others.”</p><p>“To share in blessings and burdens,” continued Hayley. “To be your advocate, your champion.”</p><p>“To be your comfort,” said Jackson. “Your sanctuary, and for as long as we both shall live…”</p><p>“To be your family,” Hayley finished.</p><p>“To be your family,” Jackson repeated softly, offering her a smile. They moved their hands to light the ceremonial candle with the match.</p><p>Mary looked beyond pleased. “You two have endured all the traditional werewolf rituals and trials. There is only one remaining— Jackson, you may kiss your bride.”</p><p>He leaned in, cupping her face to kiss her. When he pulled away, both their eyes glowed golden. As Hilda turned, she saw the same thing had happened to all the wolves in the vicinity, making them grin as they realized the ceremony had worked, and empowered them.</p><p>Hilda, surprisingly, felt up for celebrating. She ignored her brothers and went to congratulate Hayley and Jackson. She ate some cake and drank champagne. She danced with several of the wolves there, and even got a kiss on the cheek. Everything felt fine until Klaus decided he wanted to be the center of attention.</p><p>“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said loudly. “May I have your attention please? Hayley, if you would join me, I would like to propose a toast.” Hayley joined him a bit reluctantly, and he handed Hope to her, whom he’d been holding in his arms. “I want to welcome you all. As you know, last spring, Hayley and I had a daughter. Due to tragic circumstance, she was lost. Now, she has returned home. Her name is Hope.”</p><p>This made several of the guests gasp. They hadn’t yet been told that Hope had lived.</p><p>“She will live here among you, her pack,” continued Klaus. “Her <em>family</em>. We <em>implore</em> you— <em>protect</em> our daughter. Teach her. Love her, as one of your own.” He held up a glass of champagne and nodded to the groom. “Jackson, I invite you and your bride to live here, uniting your proud and noble people in <em>peace.</em>Welcome to the family, mate. To Jackson and Hayley!”</p><p>“Cheers!” most guests replied. Hilda glared suspiciously at her brother, and when she watched him go upstairs with Elijah, she followed. “What the bloody fuck was that?” she snapped. “What are you planning? You better not dare hurt him, Niklaus, I will leave you to rot in the ocean!”</p><p>“Ah, alas, now she speaks!” scoffed Klaus. “I wondered how long your silent streak would last.”</p><p>“Don’t be a dick,” she sneered. “You’re the ones who daggered me. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to be here. But you’re clearly—”</p><p>“Excuse me.”</p><p>She whirled around to see an unfamiliar woman. “And who the fuck are you?” spat Hilda.</p><p>“Hilda, that is Rebekah,” said Elijah. </p><p>“Whatever,” Hilda muttered. “What the hell do you want?”</p><p>Rebekah held her hands up in surrender. “It’s Kol. He’s ill. He’s not gonna last the night.”</p><p>Hilda’s champagne glass shattered in her hands. “What did you say?” she hissed darkly.</p><p>“Hilly, I tried,” said Rebekah desperately. “He was cursed and he only told me today—”</p><p>
  <em>“What do you mean he’s cursed?!”</em>
</p><p>“Finn cursed—”</p><p>Hilda started to tremble, and out of instinct, she slammed Rebekah into the nearest wall, hand around her throat. Elijah and Klaus dove forward to tear her off. “She’s mortal!” Klaus growled. “You’ll kill her!”</p><p>“Better her than Kol!” Hilda seethed. “Take me to him. Right now.”</p><p>“We’re all going,” said Rebekah, rubbing her neck. “Come on. The Claire tomb.”</p><p>Words could not describe what Hilda was feeling in that moment. She forgot her animosity with her siblings. All she could think was that her brother was dying and the entire day, she’d had no idea.</p><p>“I think I want to be alone for this bit,” they heard Kol wheezing to Davina as they approached the Claire tomb. He began to cough, and Hilda watched him try to stagger into the tomb.</p><p>“I’m afraid that’s not an option,” announced Elijah.</p><p>“‘Always and forever’ is not something that you just weasel out of, brother,” said Klaus.</p><p>Hilda ignored them and sped forward, pulling Kol into a hug. “Hilly,” he whispered weakly, his legs nearly giving out under him. She pulled him inside and sat down on the floor, letting his head rest in her lap. She stroked his hair, feeling how much he was shaking. His heartbeat was slowing down and from the blood on his mouth, she could deduce it was tearing him apart from the inside. </p><p>Davina rushed in before the siblings, beginning to whisper a spell and clutching a necklace in her hands. Kol coughed loudly, more blood spilling out of his nose and mouth. He looked up as his other three siblings gathered round. “All my life,” he whispered, “all I ever wanted was for you three to care about me…”</p><p>He went into another coughing fit, and Hilda held him up, rubbing his back gently. She couldn’t contain her tears. This couldn’t possibly be real. This couldn’t be happening again.</p><p>Rebekah knelt in front of him. “Kol, listen to me,” she said, also crying. “You don’t have long. You’re going to die… but you will die a witch, and we will consecrate your body. You will join the ancestors of the French Quarter, and those spirits can be brought back. And, I promise you, brother, I will <em>not</em> leave this body until I find a way to bring you home.”</p><p>Davina stumbled toward them. “I tried a different spell,” she whimpered frantically, holding out the necklace. Kol shook his head. “It’s okay,” he gasped, taking her hand. “I’m not scared…”</p><p>Hilda swallowed back a sob as she leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Hey,” she whispered. “Kol, look at me.”</p><p>He managed to gaze up, and chuckled weakly. “I’m… I’m glad… I got to see you again, Hilly,” he whispered. “Thank you…”</p><p>“We’re bringing you back,” she promised, one of her tears dripping onto his cheek. “I swear it, Kol.”</p><p>He started to laugh, but it cut off halfway, and his body went still, eyes wide open.</p><p>Davina started to sob loudly, covering her face with her hands. Hilda’s lip quivered, and she slid her hand down his face to close his eyes.</p><p>“Sister,” said Elijah quietly, offering her his hand. “Let me help you up.”</p><p>“No,” she said coldly, not looking up.</p><p>“Hilly, you can’t stay on the floor,” said Rebekah quietly.</p><p>“You can’t even give me a moment to grieve, can you?” she spat, her fists balling up. “Do you realize this is the second time I’ve had to watch him die? Twice, completely unexpected. Nothing I could do…” she started to breathe heavily. “Nothing… nothing I could have done…”</p><p>Klaus tensed. “Hilda, take a breath—”</p><p>She started to shake, gasping for air, clutching at her own chest. She shut her eyes tightly as though she expected this would help her, but it only made her wheeze. “I c-can’t— I can’t—”</p><p>Rebekah’s mistake was trying to pull her to her feet.</p><p>“STOP IT!” screeched Hilda.</p><p>Immediately, the sound of a small explosion sounded, and the shelves of the tomb were emptied, papers and clay molds flying all over the place, clattering onto the floor along with many of the utensils. </p><p>“We… we ought to get home, Hilly,” said Rebekah weakly.</p><p>“Home isn’t the Compound,” she snarled, squeezing her eyes shut tight as she tried to hold back her murderous urges. She didn’t want to accidentally hurt Davina. “I don’t— I don’t want to be here anymore—”</p><p>She let out an anguished scream, covering her face to try and muffle the sound. But all the same, every candle in the room went out, and the entire tomb shook this time. </p><p>Elijah pulled out his phone and offered it to her. “You ought to call Alaric.”</p><p>Hilda slapped the phone out of his hand, sending it crashing into the wall. “Stop pretending to care!” she screamed. “Stop it! You— you daggered me! I could have spent this past month and a half with my brother and instead you daggered me without my consent! If I had been here— I could have healed him! I could have made sure he never got cursed in the first place! I don’t want to be here… I don’t…”</p><p>“Y-You can stay with me,” said Davina shakily, trying desperately to calm her down. She was shivering in fear, not understanding how Hilda could have possibly caused such destruction within the tomb. She thought that if she screamed again, she might bring the entire thing crashing down. “I-I don’t mind…”</p><p>“Perhaps you ought to go to Mystic Falls for a bit,” said Klaus quietly.</p><p>Hilda stood up, jabbing her finger in his face. “No, don’t even try to suggest anything. Some— some <em>very</em> broken part of me is still guilt-ridden at the thought of leaving all of you. So this is what’s going to happen. I will stay only long enough for us to kill Finn and meet Freya, and make sure neither she nor Dahlia is a problem. The instant that I know that Hope is safe, I’m leaving, and I don’t intend to come back.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Chapter 35</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Once Hilda had let her anger out, the sadness settled in.</strong>
</p><p>“I’ve never seen her like this,” said Hayley, looking terrified when Elijah and Klaus explained what’d happened. “She’s… she’s completely silent. I peeked into her room and she’s just trembling and staring at the wall.”</p><p>“Whenever her anger is not overtaking her, the guilt does,” said Elijah. “Most times, our sister is not very remorseful. Other times, the remorse hits very hard. I assume she feels that she could have done something to help Kol. It’s a complicated thing that we still don’t understand. Only she and Kol were ever afflicted with this condition. Their vampirism brought it to an unbearable level. Perhaps, Hayley, you will never understand why we have daggered the twins so often, but there is an immense level of danger when they get like this. Kol and Hilda have slaughtered entire towns after psychotic episodes and they don’t realize until much later. And once they do, they almost never feel remorse. Hilda, more often than Kol, has felt that guilt and it has eaten her alive. You might think it cruel but we only ever sought to help them.”</p><p>“Don’t give me that bullshit,” said Hayley coldly. “That’s not how you help someone. You don’t just put them down. You have to help them work through it. You don’t treat mental illness by shoving it aside and pretending it isn’t there. Hilda can’t just take pills and be okay, her vampirism won’t allow that. She needs someone to be there for her.” She scoffed. “No wonder she never wants to be around you. None of you have ever even remotely tried to be there for her unless she’s like this. That’s ridiculous.”</p><p>Klaus and Elijah remained silent. They knew Hayley was right.</p><p>“I’ve already spoken to Alaric,” muttered Hayley. “Jo’s been texting me tips on how we might want to deal with this. Hilda’s not okay. She might <em>never</em> be okay. Twice now she’s lost the only person who understood her. No one should have to go through that pain two times. She’s unstable and she’s been unstable for a long time and daggering has never made it better. She’s traumatized for several reasons and her mind continues to attack her whenever it gets a chance. Can you imagine how she feels?” </p><p>The brothers, once again, couldn’t find words to say. Hayley looked livid. “All you can do is stare, hmm?” she said, glaring at them. “That’s it? Alaric was someone who understood her, someone who made her feel like she could overcome her mental illness. And she gave him up because you terrify her.”</p><p>“Hang on, now!” snapped Klaus. “We never threatened Alaric Saltzman!”</p><p>“You might as well have! Everytime she acts out, you dagger her. Rebekah wanted to be with Marcel and you daggered her. You demand she stays here because you want her help, and if she were to try to leave, you would dagger her. And if she were to be happy with literally anyone but you, you’d make her miserable. It’s one thing to be a protective brother who makes clear to her partner that you will back her up no matter what. It’s another thing to make her feel too afraid to even let loose and feel happy with someone because she thinks you’ll retaliate against her. All you’ve done is make this worse, Klaus. Is this how it’s gonna be, when Hope starts dating? Is she going to feel like she has to hide it from you? I don’t want our daughter to grow up feeling like she needs to be secretive because she’s scared how her dad will react. So I suggest you check yourself before you even think of going near Hilda.”</p><p>It was clear neither Elijah nor Klaus knew what to do. Klaus had consulted Cami, at least, to learn what he could about how to help his sister, while Elijah and Rebekah had gone to speak to some doctors outside of the Quarter. All those who gave advice said practically the same thing as Hayley— they needed to show Hilda that they were there to support her. They needed to limit criticisms. They couldn’t demand too much of her. They needed to understand when she needed to take breaks. They needed to make sure that they didn’t overwhelm her.</p><p>Hayley had been adamant about not letting the siblings see her. She didn’t even want them coming close to her room. Hilda seemed to be stuck in a void of darkness. Jackson and some of the wolves traded off bringing her food, so that she could sense that multiple people cared about her. For the most part, Hayley would be the one to try and talk to her, even if she didn’t respond. She would bring Hope and they would have long conversations. She helped to open the windows to help Hilda get some sun. She helped her shower, since she was struggling with self-care. She made sure she fed enough and snacked on some fruit. She texted Alaric and Jo every day to find out other ways to support her.</p><p>It was a gruesome two weeks. Hayley thought that her attempts were futile. Even Hope started to cry more often because she didn’t understand why Hilda kept ignoring her every time she tried to get her to hug her. The wolves became more afraid of bringing food because they felt as though Hilda was just a bomb waiting to go off. Even when Hayley put her phone on speaker for Hilda to hear Alaric and Jo’s voices, she would hardly react, as if she had shut off her senses and couldn’t actually hear anything.</p><p>“She does this whenever she’s daggered,” said Rebekah solemnly one evening at the end of January. “She reverts to this… state of dreaming. She quite literally will not sense anything and sometimes it takes her awhile to wake because she doesn’t want to exit her dreams. They’re repeated memories played in her mind to bring her peace. I suspect she’s looking at Kol in her mind, remembering everything she can about him. Maybe she’s also dreaming about magic she’s learned to help bring him back.”</p><p>“She still hasn’t spoken,” whispered Hayley worriedly, swirling some bourbon in a glass before downing it in one gulp. “I don’t know what to do. I think maybe Cami ought to talk to her.”</p><p>“Are you mad? Hilda will kill Cami without even realizing it!”</p><p>“We wouldn’t let her go in alone, Rebekah. I don’t think Hilda’s going to lash out. I think she’s put herself in a sort of trance to protect us <em>and</em> herself. The last thing she wants is to—”</p><p>Hayley nearly jumped out of her skin as Hilda walked past her silently, wrapped in a towel, heading straight for the table where they had several bottles of alcohol laid out. The two women watched the Original quietly serving herself a drink. She sipped, and set the glass back down before walking back the way she came.</p><p>Rebekah and Hayley got to their feet and followed her as she made her way back to her room. They found that she had tidied up her space on her own. The bathroom had steam coming out of it— she had showered by herself. Her clothes were neatly folded in her closet and makeup was laid out on her vanity. She seemed to be getting ready to go out.</p><p>“Where are you of to?” asked Hayley casually. </p><p>Hilda said nothing, but held up a small piece of paper, announcing the grand opening of a new club in Algiers. From what it seemed like, it had fluttered through the open window and Hilda had likely been hit in the face with it.</p><p>“That sounds like fun, Hilly,” said Rebekah softly. Hilda didn’t look at her, but she nodded, and went to her closet, pulling out one of her more tight-fitting dresses and laying it out. She beckoned for the other two to go, and they did. Hilda closed the door and in five minutes, she opened it for them, revealing she had gotten dressed. She draped a robe around herself and went to sit in front of her vanity to start her makeup.</p><p>That was the first night that things seemed to be getting back to normal.</p><p>Hayley waited up for her and Hilda returned with a smile on her face. When the hybrid investigated the next day, she heard no news of any murders. Hilda had been perfectly well behaved. Even in the following week, no one appeared to be missing.</p><p>She didn’t speak much, but she interacted with Hayley, Hope, and the wolves. She continued to ignore her siblings. There was still a very saddened look in her eyes that didn’t seem like it would disappear anytime soon. But it dissipated for moments when she trained with Jackson and his friends, keeping her hands and mind busy to let her anger out in a controlled environment. She played and talked to Hope, still without baby talk, but proper conversations that Hayley liked to listen to. She called Alaric and Jo often, and the two seemed to find that she was happily distracted hearing about all the things that were happening in Mystic Falls.</p><p>Hayley had warned Elijah and Klaus not to try to approach her yet. Hilda was fine in Rebekah’s presence but she definitely didn’t try to engage with her. She tolerated her presence when the two were working with Davina on a Resurrection Spell, but that was all. Hayley didn’t think they ought to ruin Hilda’s progress.</p><p>Klaus, of course, ignored her advice.</p><p>“Rise and shine,” he said loudly one afternoon when he found Hilda napping in the armchair beside the window of her room, a book on her lap. </p><p>Hilda shot him a nasty look when she sat up. Just when she thought she might work up to being in the same room as him, he came to ruin it. He was too impatient to wait for her to feel better. He wanted and needed her help in that moment and in his mind, he had already supported her enough by staying away.</p><p>“How would you like to go kill Finn?” he asked her before she could think to tear his throat out.</p><p>She perked up immediately, a dark glint in her eyes. Hayley had warned Klaus explicitly not to even dare mention Finn, but of course, the hybrid always did whatever he wanted, and he smirked as his sister got to her feet. “Where is he?” she said lowly.</p><p>“The Lafayette Ce—”</p><p>Hilda was out the door before Klaus could finish.</p><p>He arrived alongside her and found her walking down the foggy path through the tombs, clearly determined to find Finn as soon as possible. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, but she ignored it. </p><p>“FINN!” Klaus shouted behind her. “We know you’re here! The wolves tell me you've been quite active robbing graves and violating corpses! Sounds like you. Why don't you just come out so we can finish this?”</p><p>They turned down another aisle of tombs and saw Finn at the end, waiting for them with his arms outstretched. “Hello, Niklaus. Hilda.”</p><p>“Are those your last words?” sneered Hilda. “Because after you cursed Kol to death, I have no mind to hear you out any further.”</p><p>Finn chuckled. “Hilda, my dear sister, you can’t possibly be stupid enough to attack a witch in the very place the Ancestors call home!”</p><p>“Bold of you to assume the Ancestors give a damn about you,” she spat. She lunged at him, but he held up his hands, and flames burst out in front of them. Hilda and Klaus easily sped to the top of the tombs.</p><p>“You lost a step, brother,” Klaus taunted. “But then, being blown to pieces will do that, I suppose.”</p><p>The two Originals jumped down, but Finn easily flicked his wrist to send two pieces of the wrought-iron fences in their chests. Hilda hissed in pain as the pikes embedded themselves in her chest, making her spit out some blood. Finn pressed his hands into the air, leaving Hilda and Klaus unable to just rip the fence off.</p><p>“Finished so soon?” said Finn with a cheeky grin. “My indestructible brother and sister… Father was right about you, Niklaus. You’re nothing but a pathetic disappointment!”</p><p>Hilda screamed and yanked the pike out, throwing the fence at Finn and sending him flying back as she managed to hit him in the side, knocking him down. “Don’t you dare mention Mikael!” she snarled as she stormed over to him. “You killed Kol and you almost killed Hope. For that, I will enjoy making you suffer.” She kicked her foot out to shove the pike deeper into his abdomen, making him groan in pain. “I’m the only sibling who ever showed you kindness and this is how you repay me? Stabbing me in the back? All the good people in this family are dead.”</p><p>Suddenly, Hilda was yanked back and slammed into the wall of the tomb behind her by Elijah, who looked livid. “Don’t you dare.”</p><p>“Get off of me, Elijah!” she spat, eyes flashing with unbridled malice. </p><p>“I need him alive!” he said coldly. </p><p>“I don’t care! He killed Kol and I’m not letting you stop me from killing him!”</p><p>“The witches want that body returned unharmed!”</p><p>“TO HELL WITH THE WITCHES!” Hilda screamed. </p><p>Elijah turned sharply to Klaus. “How dare you bring her here? She was hardly stable enough to leave the Compound the few times she’s gone! Hayley told us not to approach her!” </p><p>“That’s my fault now?” Klaus hissed. “Hayley does not command me, nor do any bloody witches. What else do those witches desire? A parade? Free broomsticks for all?”</p><p>“This alliance could be greatly beneficial to us all,” Elijah said sternly, keeping a struggling Hilda from finishing Finn off. “Or do you no longer wish to resurrect your brother?”</p><p>“Don’t speak to me of Kol!” she wailed, trying to claw at his face. “Let me kill him! I don’t care about currying some witch’s favor!”</p><p>“You should.” </p><p>The three siblings snapped their head to see the new and unfamiliar face joining them. The woman was slender and had dirty blonde hair flowing over her shoulders along with shining green eyes. She had Hilda’s nose and lips, and a very similar facial and body structure. The difference was only that Hilda’s eyes and hair were quite dark. Aside from that, even their skin tones were the same. </p><p>“Witch allies can prove valuable,” said the woman, smiling at the three siblings. “I know that you understand that, Hilda.”</p><p>On the ground, Finn gasped up at the woman. “Freya,” he panted. “Freya, help me!”</p><p>She kneeled beside him. “Don't worry, brother. I won't let them hurt you.” She lifted the blue pendant around her neck and began to chant, “<em>Yovara vimuna virael.” </em>The pendant glowed bright and Finn began to scream in pain. <em>“Yovara vimuna virael!”</em> </p><p>Finn sat up abruptly, now healed, but also confused. “Who are you?” he stammered up at them.</p><p>Freya held out two fingers and made a sweeping motion over the man’s face. “Sleep.”</p><p>The man’s eyes closed and he slumped back. “What the bloody hell did you do to him?” snapped Klaus.</p><p>Freya held up the pendant. “Finn is now safe from harm. And his hatred of you can no longer do damage to our cause.”</p><p>“Our cause?” inquired Elijah suspiciously, releasing Hilda.</p><p>“Yes, <em>ours</em>,” repeated the blonde. “And now, if you three can stop arguing long enough, perhaps you'll allow your older sister to offer you a deal.”</p><p>Klaus sneered. “What could you possibly offer us besides fairy tales and lies?”</p><p>Freya stepped closer to them. “Whatever you think of me, brother, know this— when I speak to you, it <em>is</em> the truth. If you have any doubts, remember that it was I who rescued Rebekah from the Fauline Cottage.”</p><p>“And was it not also you who led Finn on his vile mission to take Hope’s life?” demanded Elijah.</p><p>Freya shook her head. “The threat to Hope came from Finn, not me.” She looked at the sleeping man on the ground. “The brother I knew would never have stooped to threaten a child. Our mother <em>destroyed</em> him. Like she did me. You. <em>Everything</em> she touched.”</p><p>“Do not speak as though we are familiars,” Klaus growled. “We know nothing of you!”</p><p>Freya held out her hands, and suddenly, Hilda felt herself entering a memory.</p><p>She heard the panicked screams of a child being dragged away from its mother.</p><p>
  <em>“I cannot give up my child!” came the familiar voice of Esther. “No, Dahlia, please!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“MOMMY!” the little girl shrieked. “MOMMY!”</em>
</p><p>Freya flicked her wrists, and Hilda stood across from her once again. “Do you still think me a liar?”</p><p>“That proves nothing but your ability to conjure illusions!” said Klaus accusingly.</p><p>Freya seemed almost amused. “Before you dismiss me, you should know this— if I've woken from my slumber, Dahlia has as well. Once she's sensed your child's magic, she <em>will</em> come for her. And she has the power to kill <em>anyone</em> who stands in her way... unless we kill her first.”</p><p>Klaus was not impressed. “That's quite convenient, isn't it? You show up in the nick of time to help us kill the woman with whom you've spent a thousand years!”</p><p>“You have no idea what it took to escape her!” said Freya angrily. “Or what I lost in the trying. Her punishment will be profound!”</p><p>Hilda held up her hands to stop her brothers from speaking. “Do you know how to stop her?” she asked.</p><p>Freya nodded. “Given the proper materials, yes. I've sent Father to procure them.”</p><p>Hilda tensed. “You put the life of my niece in the hands of Mikael? You clearly know <em>nothing</em> about how that man has treated all of us.”</p><p>“Hilda,” said Elijah sternly. “This woman has knowledge of the threat we now face and is willing to share that information.”</p><p>Klaus had had enough. “Well, you'll excuse me, Elijah, if I'm not inclined to trust the mysterious sister we only just met! I don’t even trust the sister that stands beside us. But, by all means, if you wish to entertain this idiocy, have at it.” He sped off, ignoring the appalled look on Freya’s face. Obviously, she didn’t like to see Klaus speaking so poorly about Hilda.</p><p>“Thank you,” said Freya gently, looking at Elijah. “Your kindness is much appreciated.”</p><p>Elijah half-smiled. “I may be willing to accept your identity, Freya— it doesn’t mean I trust you.”</p><p>“Then I will look forward to earning that trust,” she said firmly. She turned to Hilda. “Come, sister. I would very much like to speak with you.”</p><p>Hilda began to follow after Freya, furrowing her brows. “I’ve met you before,” she said softly. “In 1914. You— you came to the Christmas party with Kol.”</p><p>Freya smiled. “I did, yes. I was very proud to hear about how you both stuck with your magic all these years, even without powers. You remained connected to your witch nature. It’s admirable.”</p><p>“Mikael didn’t think so,” muttered Hilda.</p><p>Freya bit her lip. “I expected this animosity toward Mikael from our sister and two brothers. But not from you.”</p><p>“Well, I imagine Mikael didn’t happily tell you about all the times he verbally and physically abused us. He wanted me to be just like you. He saw the resemblance between us and he trained Kol and I to be fighters. We were good at it, too. But we preferred to learn magic with our mother and he didn’t like that. He spoke ill to our faces and shoved us around. Most of the scars on Kol and I’s bodies are from him. We cannot acquire new scars since we became vampires, but he’s continued to mark us even now. Mikael has tried to kill me many times. I’m not the daughter he wanted. I wasn’t <em>you</em>.”</p><p>Hilda looked away as she continued to speak. “I wish that you had been with us. Mikael would have focused his attention on you and left me alone. I had to practically be the older sister and keep everyone in check. I haven’t very many motherly bones in my body but Mikael instilled in me that I had to live up to his expectation of what you would have been. I continue to forsake my own happiness because I felt like I had to take your place to avoid a beating. Even now, I force myself to tolerate betrayal from our siblings because Mikael's abuse conditioned me to want to be you even when I've got my own troubles to think about. If that explanation isn’t enough…” </p><p>She held out her arm. “Look into my mind, Freya, I don’t care. See whatever you’d like. If you seek to understand Mikael through my eyes, have at it. If you want to enter the troubled brain of Hilda Mikaelson, I won’t stop you. You can go in and see what this family is <em>really</em> like. I would like to trust you, but I must say this first— this family isn’t what you’re expecting. Kol and I have never really belonged and my mind will show that to you. I don’t trust any of my siblings anymore. I don’t trust our parents. So go for it. Learn about what it’s like to be me so that you can see what you’re signing up for. So that you can see that 'Always and Forever' seems to only be reserved for Rebekah, Klaus, and Elijah."</p><p>Freya took her hands slowly as Hilda whispered, “They’ll only use you then cast you aside.”</p>
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<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Chapter 36</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Freya was in shock.</strong>
</p><p>Hilda sat numbly beside her, feeling exhausted after letting her older sister into her mind. It was clear from the look on Freya’s face that she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.</p><p>“Yep,” Hilda spoke for her, getting up and brushing down her shirt. “So welcome to the family. Be ready to be mistreated because Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah are their own little cult. If you’ll excuse me, I want to sleep.”</p><p>Freya nodded. “Of course. I would like for us to meet again soon… if that’s possible.”</p><p>Hilda offered her a smile. “I’d like that. I want to be able to trust you, Freya. I really do.”</p><p>“I want to help you, sister,” replied the witch. “In any way that I can. Whether it’s making sure you and Kol get the recognition you deserve or mending the relationship between you and Mikael… I can’t believe that you’ve been treated like this. It’s unacceptable.”</p><p>The younger sister nodded, not wishing to speak anymore. She walked back through the streets, eager to arrive home.</p><p>Before she made it to the Compound, she saw an incoming call from Alaric. “Hey,” she answered softly. “How are things going?”</p><p>“They’re alright. But how are you?”</p><p>“I’m fine. What news do you have?”</p><p>Alaric let out a soft breath. “Alright. Bad news first. Um, Liz Forbes died, and Caroline’s not taking it too well… she shut off her humanity.”</p><p>“Oh my… that poor girl. That’s terrible. My condolences for her… Elizabeth seemed like such a good woman when I met her.”</p><p>“Yeah… the loss is hitting Caroline really hard… Um, in better news, Bonnie is back. Kai actually helped out with that.”</p><p>“Did he? That’s a good sign.”</p><p>“It seems he did get some more positive traits after his Merge with Luke.” He then paused. “Jeez, I don’t know how to say this next part so I’m just gonna blurt it out. Jo and I are getting married.”</p><p>Hilda nearly snapped the phone in half. “Oh, congratulations!” she said brightly. She was genuinely happy, but the lingering rage directed toward her siblings threatened to burst out in that moment due to her jealousy. “That’s amazing! How did you propose?”</p><p>“Not in the best way, honestly, I think I really scared her at first.”</p><p>“Aw, what happened?”</p><p>“Well… um… she’s pregnant.”</p><p>It took everything for Hilda not to fly into a fit. “Wow,” she said instead. “She’s… pregnant. With… your child?”</p><p>“Yep. I had already been planning to propose but I did it right after we found out and initially I think it terrified her, but I made it clear I already wanted to and it wasn’t just because of the baby. The way we discovered it all was strange. Kai came… those side effects you mentioned became prevalent. He was dying. He needed Jo’s magic and she gave it to him, and before he left, he told her she was pregnant. You were right about his heightened senses.”</p><p>Hilda felt a few gentle tears rolling down her face. “Congratulations, Alaric,” she said as steadily as she could. “This… is amazing. You both like the idea of a family, of kids, and all that… it’s going to be wonderful. A mom who’s a brilliant doctor, a dad who’s a Professor for the supernatural… they’ve got a really good set of parents. Maybe they can be friends with Hope. They’re not that far off in age.”</p><p>“I’d like that. Hope seems like a really awesome kid and that’s the kind of influence I want for mine.” She could hear the distinct noise of him running his tongue over his lips. “Hilda, it would mean a lot to me if you were to come to Jo and I’s wedding. We’re thinking the end of June would be nice.”</p><p>The Original hastily wiped the tears from her eyes. “Of course,” she said, her voice cracking a bit. She wanted to go, to be there in support of Alaric and Jo after all their help. But a massive part of her had no desire to be there witnessing their union. In another reality, that would have been Hilda and Alaric’s wedding. </p><p>“Hilda, are you okay?”</p><p>“I-I’m fine,” she managed. “Why wouldn’t I be?”</p><p>“You don’t sound okay. Are you… crying?”</p><p>“I’m just overwhelmed because of my family,” she lied, trying to pretend she wasn’t getting emotional because of what he’d told her. “Um— my sister, Freya. I met her today. A-And I showed her all my memories of all the times my siblings mistreated me. It was some pretty heavy stuff given my current condition and honestly I feel so drained… physically and emotionally… after having to see all that again. I’m so sick of being here but until I know Hope’s safe, I don’t feel good leaving. Finn’s gone but Kol is still dead and I feel no relief whatsoever. Everytime I see Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah’s faces, I just want… to tear them off. To rip them to shreds for treating me like this. And Freya… She seems to want to help me mend my relationship with Mikael and that terrifies me. I have so much trauma associated with him and with men in general and my father is not the approachable type. It’s just an accident waiting to happen. I’m sorry… I am happy for you, seriously. But my family just drains the life out of me.”</p><p>“Hilda, you don’t have to apologize. And listen, if you don’t want to come to the wedding, you don’t have to. It’s okay. I don’t want you to feel obligated to be somewhere that makes you uncomfortable. I’ll understand if you choose not to attend. Just know that no matter what, I will always be here for you. Whether I’m single or married to Jo. I want you to be happy and if I’m a toxic person in your life, I won’t put any pressure on you.”</p><p>“You’re not a toxic person,” she said immediately. “Don’t ever say that, Ric, please. I’m just being stupid…”</p><p>“It’s not stupid to have feelings, Hilda. You’re allowed to feel any way you want to feel and no one gets to change that about you. You were wronged so many times. You deserve so much better than what life has given you. You and Kol and even… even Kai, honestly. I’ve learned so much about understanding mental health since I met you and you’ve made me a better person. I can be there for my students in a way that a lot of other Professors can’t. I just hope that my support is good. If not, I will do anything I need to do to improve.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled, more tears rolling off of her chin. “You’re wonderful, Ric, don’t worry,” she whispered. “And um, it’s nice to know that you and your future brother-in-law are making some slight progress.”</p><p>Alaric laughed lightly. “I mean, I wouldn’t call it <em>progress</em>. You haven’t met Kai. He’s pretty childish. Very dark sense of humor. I think you’d like him, if he gets nicer.”</p><p>Hilda bit her lip. “Yeah,” she said jokingly, “I’ll take a fancy to him and become Jo’s sister-in-law. Bet that’ll be fun at reunions. You two with your teeny baby, perfectly calm parents, then Kai and I with our very morbid comments…”</p><p>There was a tense pause. “You deserve better than Kai,” said Alaric in a hard voice. “He’ll fall head over heels for you but that man won’t treat you right, and you’ll just get hurt.”</p><p>Hilda furrowed her eyebrows. “Ric, I was just teasing…”</p><p>“Don’t think about Kai like that, okay? Not even as a joke. He’s not someone you want to pursue. I don’t trust him and I don’t think you two ought to meet. You two together… that’s a volatile combination and it doesn’t bode well.”</p><p>“Why?” she said hotly, her temper rising. “Think I’ll egg him on and make him worse? Yeah, I bet it does come off as dangerous, shoving an Original vampire psychopath in a room with a sociopathic Gemini siphon-turned-witch.”</p><p>“Hang on, you know that’s not what I meant—”</p><p>“What did you mean, then?” She knew she was overthinking but her anger was getting the better of her. “I thought you wanted me to be happy, Ric. So what if I want to meet Jo’s twin?”</p><p>“All I’m saying is that he’ll hurt you. And I don’t want you to get hurt. Of course I want you to be happy but not with <em>him</em>. Pick anyone else. Not him. I don’t like the idea of seeing you…” He trailed off, and Hilda growled.</p><p>“Seeing me <em>what</em>, Alaric? Speaking to him? Kissing him? Oh, I know, maybe <em>sleeping</em> with him? It’s my bloody body and my bloody choice who I have sex with—”</p><p>“Obviously, my comment came off wrong,” he said fiercely. “I didn’t mean that and I’m sorry. I didn’t want to insult you, Hilda, and I definitely didn’t want to anger you. I don’t want you to get hurt, that’s all. I trust you. I don’t trust Kai.” He was also jealous, but he didn’t say that.</p><p>“Whatever,” she muttered. “I’ll talk to you later, I’m really not in the mood right now.” She hung up as she walked through the entrance of the Compound, swearing loudly and making the wolves in the courtyard look up in surprise. </p><p>“You alright, Hilda?” asked Jackson, getting to his feet.</p><p>She shook her head but didn’t stop to chat. “I’d suggest none of you attempt to make contact with me at the moment because I can’t promise you’ll live if you try.”</p><p>When she got to her room, she pressed a pillow into her mouth and let out a furious scream. Her eyes watered again and her throat burned raw, but the pain was temporary and she didn’t want to be destructive.</p><p>So that was it. Alaric was going to have his perfect little family with Jo. Hilda loved the idea of the two of them together, but this felt so soon. They hadn’t even known each other for a year and now, they were expecting, and going to get married. Hilda wanted to be happy but she had not yet gotten over Alaric. A great part of her wanted to be furious because if things were different, Alaric and Jo would have never started dating. Perhaps, Alaric and Hilda would both still be vampires. They’d have worked their way into a proper relationship and Hilda might’ve felt happy.</p><p>“I don’t even like kids,” she muttered to herself as she tried to draw herself a bath. “Why do I care…”</p><p>“That’s not true,” said the voice of Esther. Hilda snapped her head up to the mirror, seeing the woman standing behind her.</p><p>“Get out of my head!” snarled Hilda, turning away. “I really don’t need this right now!”</p><p>“Why deny that you desire something like that? You were beyond gentle with Henrik. You adored him. Perhaps, you’re not as set on being a mother as your sister, but you don’t mind it. You would love to have a family of your own.”</p><p>“That’s not true,” Hilda said weakly. But she knew that she was lying. Of course she’d thought of it before. She was terrified of the prospect of children because she had seen the pain her mother felt at the loss of Henrik. She’d seen many women dealing with children who had different ailments or behavioral problems. Hilda felt she would ruin any child she got too close to. She felt she would be a bad mother and her children would grow to hate her in the same way she hated Esther.</p><p>“You’re not the same as our parents, Hilly,” came Kol’s voice. She looked back up in the mirror and saw her brother leaning against the wall behind her. “It’s alright to feel. It’s alright to be fascinated with something you previously didn’t consider. Opinions change. You’ve found someone who makes you want to be calm, who makes you think of a life you never envisioned for yourself. You’re scared to ruin something innocent and you’re scared to get attached and feel that pain of a mother losing her child because you know how fragile children are and you don’t want to hurt the way so many have in the past. But those fears are normal. We’re psychopaths, Hilly, but we’ve both met someone who makes us not want to be that way anymore. It’s not shameful if you see yourself becoming a mother.”</p><p>Hilda grabbed at her temples and tried to close her eyes. “Stop it, Kol,” she whispered. “Please. Hope isn’t even safe around me and she’s not my daughter. I’m a bomb waiting to go off.”</p><p>“Tell me, Hilly, did you ever lose control around Alaric?”</p><p>She shook her head. “No… I don’t think so. I always feel so calm when I’m with him…” </p><p>When she looked back up, Kol was gone.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>The next morning, Hilda came down to see compelled servants were cleaning the dining room.</p><p>“What’s the special occasion?” she asked flatly, seeing Elijah and Klaus inside. “And where did all the wolves go?”</p><p>Klaus smirked. “Our eldest sister will be accompanying us for brunch.”</p><p>Hilda glared at him suspiciously. "What are you planning, Niklaus? I don't like that look on your face."</p><p>"Then don't look at my face," replied Klaus innocently. "I merely wish to discuss what Freya knows about Dahlia. After all, she does appear to want to be on our side."</p><p>Hilda stepped forward and jabbed her finger into his face. "If you dare hurt her," she sneered lowly, "I'll make sure that the next time Mikael comes, I help him end you."</p><p>Klaus was apparently thrilled to have riled her up. "Is that so, Hilda?" he said mockingly. "Well, that's a bloody relief, and here I thought I'd have to start picking an urn for <em>you</em> next."</p><p>"Niklaus!" snapped Elijah as Hilda stepped back, clearly offended.</p><p>"It rolls of your tongue so easily to speak of the death of any of your siblings, so long as it's not Elijah or Rebekah," said Hilda venomously. "I can't believe I defended you for so long. You aren't even my full brother and I endured Mikael's torment because I tried to protect you. I still cared for you even if we had a different father. It appears I've done nothing but waste my time."</p><p>Klaus rolled his eyes. "If you feel that way, you are perfectly free to leave. I don't need you pretending as though I have a dagger held to your back."</p><p>Elijah dove between them and seized Hilda's arm before she could strike Klaus in the face. "Control yourselves," he said irritably. "You're behaving like children."</p><p>"Nice to know that I don't get any proper recovery time," growled Hilda, eyes flashing darkly as she looked at Klaus, who appeared to be smug. "Is it really childish of me to defend myself? I'm so bloody sick of all of you ganging up against me."</p><p>Klaus ignored her and perked up. "I think I hear her now," he said, motioning toward the hallway. </p><p>Seconds later, Freya walked in through the doorway. “Sister!” said Klaus happily, as though nothing was wrong, beckoning for the servants to get the food started. “Well, come in, come in! Make yourself comfortable.”</p><p>Freya stepped inside and made for one of the decorations on the wall, awkwardly picking up the artifact to diffuse the tension. “This witch-hoop, it’s Danish,” she observed. “Is this from when you all lived in Copenhagen in the 1500s?”</p><p>“Quite the eye!” said Klaus. “Yes, the twins brought that in.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled, but Elijah looked impatient. “Forgive me— are we here to discuss family heirlooms, or do we have more pressing concerns?”</p><p>Klaus looked amused. “Please excuse my brother's lack of decorum. He's been in a foul mood of late. But, he is right. I <em>did </em>ask you here in the hopes that you would share some of Dahlia's secrets. So, without further ado, let's get to it!” The hybrid moved to sit at the head of the table, with Elijah to his right, and Hilda to his left. </p><p>Freya sat on the other side of Hilda, casting her a warm look before she began to speak. “The first thing you should know is that Dahlia is the most powerful witch I’ve ever seen. She craves more power still. Right now she is like me— limited to one year of life in a century. But, she wants to be free of that restriction. To gain <em>true</em> immortality. And <em>that</em> is why she will come here— drawn by your daughter to take the child's power for herself. And she would kill anyone who would defy her.”</p><p>Elijah quirked a brow. “And yet you would defy her?”</p><p>“I don’t have a choice,” replied Freya. “She will never let me be free. My one chance is to align with you and kill her.”</p><p>Klaus leaned back as the servants came around and lowered full plates of food in front of them. “Well, now that we’re all suitably motivated, let’s talk specifics!”</p><p>Freya took a deep breath. “For you to understand, I need to start from the beginning.</p><p>“After taking me from my family, Dahlia used me to forge a new brand of connective magic, one that augmented my power even as it allowed her to draw from me. Once we were bonded, Dahlia became <em>unstoppable</em>. She wasted no time proving her might. The chief of a nearby village threatened to run us off, accusing Dahlia of witchcraft. She decided to make an example out of the entire encampment— men, women, children.</p><p>“She killed them <em>all</em> with a wave of her hand. That was my first inkling of the power Dahlia had. Over the course of a thousand years, she's only grown stronger.” She faced Klaus. “And she will bring all her power to bear against you when she comes for your child.”</p><p>Klaus and Hilda both tensed, but Elijah’s phone began to ring, and their elder brother stepped off to the side to answer it. When he returned, he cleared his throat. “Rebekah will join us shortly.”</p><p>Freya smiled. “That sounds wonderful.”</p><p>Klaus chose to turn the conversation back to Dahlia. “Your stories are <em>fascinating</em>, and Dahlia does indeed sound <em>dreadful</em>, but Elijah and I have killed our fair share of evil witches. Not to mention Hilda is quite knowledgeable about witch matters.”</p><p>Freya shook her head. “None like her. She’s paranoid. Obsessed with power. She hungers constantly for what's been denied her, be it love, or revenge.”</p><p>Hilda gritted her teeth and looked at Klaus. “Sounds like someone I know…”</p><p>Klaus merely looked amused, and Freya continued, “When I was a child, she would tell me tales of her own youth, being victimized by those stronger than her. Dahlia vowed never to be weak again. She bargained for the firstborn of Esther's bloodline, intending to raise us in her own image, forming a coven of her own from which she could draw endless power. That plan was foiled the day she learned that Esther had ended her bloodline by turning her children into vampires.</p><p>“And so the burden fell to me. Dahlia demanded that I bear the firstborn that would add to her power, but, I would <em>not</em>allow a child of mine to live as I did— as a <em>slave</em>.” Her eyes began to well up with tears. “So, I vowed never to love. Never to have a child of my own.” She faced Hilda and took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “I believe you might understand my fears when it comes to having a family of our own.”</p><p>Hilda did understand, and she squeezed Freya’s hand in return. “Of course,” continued Freya, “the more I resisted, the harder Dahlia fought to control me. Until the day that she took the last of what little freedom I had left, and put us to sleep for a century. And so… we slept, our magic accruing over time. We woke filled with immense power and were allowed to live a single year of life. That has been the existence I've suffered for the last ten centuries.”</p><p>Klaus laughed cruelly, and Hilda and Freya both glared at him. “Well, that’s quite the ordeal, isn’t it?” said the hybrid. “But, it does beg the question— why not end it yourself?”</p><p>“Niklaus!” snapped Hilda as Elijah shook his head in disgust.</p><p>“A high enough bridge,” Klaus added, ignoring his siblings. “A tight enough noose? You must have considered it.”</p><p>The question clearly made Freya uncomfortable, but she closed her eyes and mustered her wits through a sigh of frustration before answering. “Long ago, I did consider it. But, Dahlia would never give me even that freedom. I would later learn that the spell made me like her— immortal and impervious to harm.” She laughed bitterly and wiped the tears from her face. “So, you see, I am like you— a creature of great power, cursed for all time.”</p><p>Hilda offered her a napkin to dry her tears, which Freya took gratefully. None of them seemed to have any appetite, the food in front of them already starting to get cold. Hilda dug her fork into some of her sausages only to be able to feel like she consumed something.</p><p>Elijah cleared his throat. “Excuse me,” he said as he stood, adjusting his suit as he took out his phone. “Rebekah should be here by now. I must call her to ensure all is well.”</p><p>He exited the room, and Klaus looked at his plate, refusing to look at Freya after what he had brought up. </p><p>“As you can see,” said Hilda coldly as she watched her silent brother, “this family isn’t very good at understanding triggers and trauma.”</p><p>Klaus looked like he wanted to say something very unfriendly, but he held back. Hilda drummed her fingers hard on the table. “For the record, I believe you, Freya. And I appreciate you opening up to us.”</p><p>Freya offered her a smile. “Thank you for your trust, sister. It warms me to know that we are able to connect after so many years we missed.”</p><p>Klaus scoffed. “Best of friends already?” he said a bit scathingly. “Let me guess. Bonded together as mutuals because of your terrible lives.”</p><p>Hilda shot him a nasty look. “Can you do me a bloody favor and shut your trap?”</p><p>Elijah walked back in and held out his hand to keep Klaus from retaliating. “Rebekah will be here shortly, but there are some things we need to discuss,” he said, motioning for Klaus and Hilda to follow him upstairs. “If you’d excuse us, Freya, we’ll return shortly.”</p><p>Hilda was not thrilled to have to go up into the study. She didn’t care what sort of trouble Rebekah was in. She wanted to retreat into a corner and just be alone. She could feel her phone buzzing in her pocket for what felt like the millionth time in the past hour— likely Alaric trying to apologize. She didn’t feel like speaking to him either.</p><p>Family was too complicated, and it drove her insane.</p>
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<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Chapter 37</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Even upon Rebekah’s arrival, Hilda did not care about her problems.</strong>
</p><p>“It was this witch, Eva!” said Rebekah irritably. “The nocturnal cow is inside of me trying to bust her way out!”</p><p>“Freya can easily do a spell if she wants to help,” said Hilda, sitting on the couch with her arms crossed. “It’s not the hardest thing in the world.”</p><p>“Have you lost your mind?” snapped Klaus. “Tell me we're not considering opening our sister's head to someone we barely know!”</p><p>Rebekah growled in frustration. “Nik, for God's sake, she <em>is</em> our sister! I've known her since she saved me from the Fauline Cottage.”</p><p>Klaus scoffed. “An act no doubt meant to secure your trust! Perhaps for this very moment, to strike when we are vulnerable!”</p><p>“You really are a bloody fucking idiot,” muttered Hilda. “None of us are witches except her. Maybe we should be thankful one of our siblings can do magic now. Or are you going to do the same thing as you did to Kol and mistreat her and only pretend to care when she lays on her deathbed?”</p><p>Klaus jabbed a finger in her face. “We’ve no way of knowing that anything she said today is true!”</p><p>She grabbed his finger and snapped it, a loud cracking noise sounding through the room as she tore it right off. Elijah and Rebekah both swore loudly in protest as Klaus hissed in pain and snatched it back from her blood pouring out as he pushed his finger back against the base, allowing it to be reattached. “Bloody lunatic!” he spat in her face as she stood up. “I’ll dagger you for that!”</p><p>“Nice to know that those stupid daggers never leave your mind!” snapped Hilda. “Don’t shove your finger in my face. I know damn well what she said is true. You know why? I let her into my mind yesterday, and—”</p><p>“Oh, that’s bloody perfect, you let her in on all our secrets, too—”</p><p>“She already knows so much about us! The point is I saw all her memories too and I know that she’s being completely honest.”</p><p>Elijah stopped Klaus from smacking his sister. “Niklaus,” he said sternly. “We are powerless to help our sister. Now, either we leave Rebekah to suffer, <em>or</em> we place our faith in the hands of someone I believe to be our <em>blood</em>. For once, set aside your anger and trust Hilda. She wouldn’t lie to us about something like this. Right now, I’m inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to family.”</p><p>“Fine!” spat Klaus. “Go and get her yourself, then!” He continued to hold onto his finger, and Hilda watched with malice, wishing she ripped his entire arm off instead.</p><p>“Nik,” said Rebekah angrily when Elijah left the room. “Seriously—”</p><p>“Do not goad me, Rebekah!” he hissed. “Our sister tore off my finger and now I’m meant to place my complete trust in another sister who we are barely meeting now!”</p><p>“You had no right to call Hilly a ‘lunatic.’ Are you daft? Those aren’t the kind of words you use on someone…” she stopped, as though she was going to say something after, but cut herself off and tried to play it off as though ‘someone’ was her last word.</p><p>Hilda glared up. “On someone <em>who what?”</em> she demanded. “Someone who’s as mentally ill as me? Someone who’s this temperamental?”</p><p>“I was going to say someone who is family,” Rebekah said, though it was a clear lie.</p><p>Hilda sneered. “Whatever.” She looked up as Elijah brought Freya in. Their elder sister moved forward and pulled Rebekah into a hug. “It’s good to see you again.”</p><p>“And you!” replied Rebekah. “Although I'd prefer better circumstances.” </p><p>The two sisters sat on the couch. Hilda moved off to the side and tuned out, already knowing what Freya would attempt. Klaus, of course, wasn’t being very eager or trusting. Hilda didn’t pay any attention until she heard the loud snapping of a neck being broken, and watched Klaus drop Freya’s lifeless body onto the floor.</p><p>“NIK!” screamed Rebekah furiously. </p><p>“Well, that’s enough of that, don’t you think?” said Klaus with a devilish smirk on his face. “Right. Now we can have a proper family meeting.”</p><p>Hilda gritted her teeth. “Are you bloody kidding me?” she said venomously. “I asked you not to hurt her.”</p><p>“You’ve only just met her!” said Klaus, no longer smirking. “Let's not get sentimental. Besides, if she was telling the truth about being immortal, she'll awaken shortly. If she was lying, good riddance.”</p><p>Hilda strode across the room and quite nearly smacked him, but Klaus caught her arm, his amber eyes flashing before he bit into her wrist, making her let out a scream.</p><p>Elijah tore Klaus off and Rebekah stepped between the two brothers and Hilda, who gasped and stared down at the bite oozing on her arm. “What the fuck?” she spat. “Every time someone calls you out because of something you did, you act like a bloody child!”</p><p>“She’s playing you all for fools!” said Klaus angrily. “Can you not see that? Freya spins a sad yarn about a small child taken by an evil witch, and you both fall over yourselves to mend what's broken!”</p><p>“How can you be so certain?” said Rebekah. “Hilda already said she looked into her mind!”</p><p>“Simple,” replied Klaus. “It’s <em>exactly</em> what I’d do. Hilda may share Freya’s face but I’d recognize that personality anywhere— it’s exactly like my own. I refuse to trust her. My only question now is what’s in it for her?”</p><p>Hilda growled and stepped back. “Doesn’t matter now, she won’t want to help us anymore. Fuck— why do you have to ruin everything, Niklaus?”</p><p>Klaus rolled his eyes and bit into his wrist, holding it out to her almost in a taunting manner. “Drink, then, and quit your bitching. It’s a bad look on you, Hilly.”</p><p><em>“Don’t call me that!”</em> she shrieked, eyes fiery. “You’ve done nothing but mistreat me— you don’t get to call me that.”</p><p>Elijah sighed and urged Hilda closer to Klaus’s hand, which was now healing. “Drink, and you are free to go. We will not ask more of you, Hilda. It is clear that you do not wish to be near us and we won’t force you to stay.”</p><p>“Thank you, Elijah,” she said with a fake smile before taking Klaus’s hand and biting aggressively into him, making him grimace. She drank only enough to make herself feel better then let go, tempted to spit the residue in Klaus’s face, but she refrained from it. She then stalked back to her room, slamming the door shut behind her.</p><p>She took out her phone to check how many missed calls she had. Several, from Alaric. One from Damon Salvatore.</p><p>She decided to dial Damon’s number, to see what he wanted.</p><p>“Hilly Billy,” he said happily. “Glad to know you’re still alive.”</p><p>“What do you need, Damon?”</p><p>“Mmm, feisty. You ought to meet Kai Parker.”</p><p>“Please don’t bring that up right now. <em>What do you need?”</em></p><p>“How much do you know about the 1903 prison world?”</p><p>“The one with the Heretics? Er— I don’t know the specifics but I know they were being led by a Ripper vampire. Stupid, really, they should have split up instead of traveling together like a creepy little posse. They’ve been in there for ages, they’re probably completely desiccated by now if they didn’t split up.”</p><p>“Yeah, well, you’re not going to believe what I’m about to tell you. That Ripper vampire is my mother.”</p><p>Hilda gasped. “Oh. Oh wow. So are you going to go in to get her?”</p><p>“A trip’s been planned. Stefan’s humanity is off and Elena thinks Lily will be the key to him turning it back on.”</p><p>“Ah, that’s right, Stefan’s a Ripper too, hmm?”</p><p>“No, no, according to your brother, it’s more like ‘<em>Rippahh.</em>’”</p><p>“Forgive me if I’m not keen on imitating my brother at the moment. Is that all you needed?”</p><p>“Well, also, Ric is really sorry.”</p><p>Hilda was silent, and Damon continued. “He’s been trying to call you to tell you but he says you’ve been ignoring him.”</p><p>“What can I say, Damon? It’s been hard for me to move on and I want to be happy for him and Jo but knowing she’s pregnant and they’re getting married now… it was a bit much to hear all at once. I was just joking about getting to know Kai. But he got mad, and I really was not in the mood for his attitude.”</p><p>“Okay, think of it this way. He’s jealous too.”</p><p>“What? No he isn’t. He’s got a wife and a baby on the way.”</p><p>“Doesn’t mean he doesn’t still care about you. Kai is annoying and rude and just a stupid little twerp. You can do a lot better than him, no matter how much your personalities match up. His ideal date will be a killing spree in the city of your choice. You don’t want that, you want chocolates and flowers and hot sex.”</p><p>Hilda grimaced. “Not really to the last one but continue.”</p><p>Damon laughed lightly. “The point is, Hilly Billy, he’s scared you’ll move on from him and go to Kai. Ric’s my best friend but I don’t have to be a lady to know that he thinks you’d rather bone Kai based on looks.”</p><p>“Does he really think I find Kai hotter? It was a joke and the point is that Kai would probably remind me too much of myself or Kol. Would you date someone who reminded you of your brother?”</p><p>“See, Ric is afraid you’re gonna get hurt. He’d basically implode if he didn’t try to warn you at first. He was harsh, I bet, but the point is, the guy still gives a major damn about your wellbeing. And um… how do I word this… Kai’s really impatient, and Ric thinks…”</p><p>“Oh.” Hilda felt her cheeks heat up. “He… he wasn’t thinking Kai would hurt me only emotionally. He thinks Kai would take advantage of me if I tried to stop him the way I’ve stopped Ric before… you know.”</p><p>She couldn’t see Damon, but she knew he’d nodded. “Bingo. Ric’s just the type of guy who doesn’t pressure anyone into anything. Kai… that guy gives me really bad vibes. He’s a siphon and he does this burning thing when he sucks your magic out. With that, he could easily take down an Original.”</p><p>Hilda sighed, rubbing her forehead. “I’ll call Ric back... I promise."</p><p>"I'm gonna ask you a question and obviously you don't have to tell the truth but I love gossip so do tell— do you still have feelings for Ric?"</p><p>The Original opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words came out. At last, she gulped audibly. "Of course I do, Damon," she whispered. "How couldn't I? Most guys I've been interested in in the past have tried to push for sex right away and it never made me comfortable. He's the only one who ever waited for me to be ready. Not even my first boyfriend was that patient."</p><p>"Wait, what?"</p><p>"It was the year 1002, women were just expected to bear children and be there for a male's pleasure. Tristan... he just initiated it and I didn't think to object, even though I wasn't really ready. I suppose I never really thought about it because I was so infatuated with him. He focused a lot on my pleasure, of course, so I ignored the fact that he pressured me into it that first time... that wasn't okay and I didn't think of it until after when he told me he'd only been using me. Then after the other incident..." She shook her head. </p><p>"The point is, Alaric is the first man who wasn't angry when I stopped him. A lot of the men I've killed were trying to pressure me. They insisted that I would feel good after we got started... that I ought to be brave and just go with the flow... but Ric was the only one who ever apologized for making me feel uncomfortable. There was only one other man I recall who allowed it to stop, but he was clearly annoyed and didn't speak to me after that. It's those little things that make me fancy him so much. Ric never made me feel like I had to hide who I was. He never made me feel like I had to pretend all was well when it wasn't. He let me be the one dictating the pace of everything. He was honest with me about what he felt. He— he kept the existence of my niece a secret to protect her even though he didn't have to do that. When I'm around him, I forget that I have a mental illness. I feel normal and safe. Like nothing could ever hurt me if I'm with him.</p><p>"He's brilliant. I'm drawn to all his historical knowledge because I feel he's just gets what I've been through without having to experience it himself. He's funny and sweet and he's handsome. I... I've even imagined myself starting a family with him and that scares me. I've never felt that way about anyone. He doesn't care that I'm a Mikaelson. He sees me as Hilda, setting me apart from who my family is and what I've done in the past. How couldn't I still fancy him? I wish... I wish that things between us could have happened. I wanted him. I wanted to be his girlfriend. But... it's better off this way. He can't get hurt by my siblings the way they've hurt me. And Jo is a wonderful woman and she's perfect for him... so he can't ever know, Damon. I don't want him to know I still have feelings for him. I don't want to ruin his relationship with Jo. I'll hate myself if I'm the reason they break up. I'll get over him eventually. Maybe once... once I meet Jo and their kid and realize it's never going to be me. I just hope I find someone like him one day. Someone who understands."</p><p>Damon let out a sigh. "Look, Miss Original Sister, I think I'm more terrified of you now that I know that you're keeping this hidden."</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"You— you're really going to just never tell him any of this? You're gonna pretend all is well when it isn't? It drove me insane not to tell Elena I loved her. So I told her! And okay, I compelled her to forget that I told her, but she eventually remembered when she became a vampire and now we're together. You should be happy."</p><p>"I don't feel I deserve happiness," she mumbled. "I just don't see myself in a very positive light. And if my happiness means their unhappiness... no. I can't do it. I simply can't. Jo doesn't deserve for me to butt in. That kid doesn't deserve to grow up with divorced parents. I'm not going to be the evil stepmom who pushed its parents apart. I'll... recover eventually. Either way, I'll probably be daggered again soon... probably for another hundred years."</p><p>"Hey... just know that you'll be happy one day. Eventually, somehow. I didn't think I could ever be happy, but I am. It happens. We're psychopaths, yeah, but we deserve to feel joy too. And we all find it somehow."</p><p>Hilda sniffled lightly. "Thanks for hearing me out. Er... good luck getting your mom. Hope everything goes well.”</p><p>“Thanks, Hilly Billy. Look forward to seeing you at the wedding. I’ll rally up all the single guys so that you can dance with them at the party.”</p><p>Hilda tried to muster a laugh. “Bye, Damon.” She hung up and her face immediately reverted to a frown. Looking down at her phone, she flipped it a few times in her hand before dialing Alaric’s number.</p><p>It was almost shocking how quickly he picked up. “Hilda, I’m really really really sorry,” he said hurriedly. “I shouldn’t have been so rude when you were just trying to joke… you’re free to be with whoever you want to be with.”</p><p>“It’s okay, Ric,” she said gently. “I’m sorry too… my temper got the best of me. I really am happy for you, don’t think anything different. I’d be honored to go to your wedding and see you both happily married in time for when your little one arrives.”</p><p>Alaric sighed. “Hilda, I just want to remind you that you don’t have to come. I know it’s probably weird… your ex-almost-boyfriend inviting you to his wedding…”</p><p>“It’s okay. I want to go and be there in support. As long as you promise there will be good food. Wedding food is my favorite part.”</p><p>He laughed lightly. “Yes, I promise, the food will be good. Jo’s picking the caterers so I think we can expect a good meal.”</p><p>“If you need any help with the funds, I’d be glad to help. This Mikaelson money really only gets used on random properties and Elijah’s suits. If you need some to buy a house or anything…”</p><p>“No, no, that’s too much to ask of you. We can manage, we’re not broke.”</p><p>“Oh! No, I didn’t mean to say that you’re broke—”</p><p>He laughed again. “It’s okay, I know that’s not what you meant. If it’s like an extreme circumstance, we’ll let you know, I promise. But Jo makes a good amount of money and she moved in with me since my apartment is bigger. I think maybe when our kid is older, we can look into houses. Not really necessary for a toddler to have a backyard when there are parks everywhere. We’ll be busy either way, I think the kid will be spending a lot of time at the Salvatore Boarding House and that place is gigantic…”</p><p>Hilda giggled lightly, laying back on her bed. “Hope doesn’t go outside very much and we have a whole courtyard for her. She likes to be inside with her toys.”</p><p>“Is she talking yet?”</p><p>“No, nothing coherent yet but she babbles a lot and some things are very close to words. I think it helped that I talked to her like she was an adult and not a baby. Everyone else is always cooing and making their voices high-pitched. I don’t see why we can’t just have a sensible conversation with her.”</p><p>“How are things with your siblings? Any improvements?”</p><p>“Not really, Freya’s currently dead but I expect she’ll be back soon.”</p><p>“Back up— what do you mean she’s dead?”</p><p>“I mean Klaus snapped her neck like the absolutely pompous prat he is.”</p><p>Alaric stifled a laugh. “I’m sorry, I know this is supposed to be serious but the only place I’ve ever heard someone be called a pompous prat is in <em>Harry Potter.”</em></p><p>Hilda smirked to herself. “Glad to know I can provide comedic relief. Maybe, in this world, Klaus is Voldemort.”</p><p>“Excuse you, that’s He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who.”</p><p>“He’s my brother! I get to call him by that terrible name.”</p><p>“Hang on. Tom Marvolo Riddle turned into ‘I am Lord Voldemort.’ How would that work for Klaus?”</p><p>“Good question. Let’s see. Niklaus Mikaelson. We don’t even have a ‘D’ for Lord so honestly this is going to be more complicated. We have ‘I am’ but that’s about it.” She shook her head. “Er, sorry, I don’t want to keep you on call for too long. You’re probably busy.”</p><p>“No, not really. Just watching a nature show while I wait for Jo to get home from her shift. She’s already asking if I’ve been thinking of baby names but I’m pretty stumped. What kind of name goes well with the surname Saltzman or Laughlin?”</p><p>“Ooh I knew someone named Alasdair, that could be like a complex sort of meshing of your names.”</p><p>“Please no, I think Alasdair Saltzman is worse than Alaric Saltzman. Jo isn’t taking my last name, which is fine by me because who wants to be known as a ‘Saltzman’? She has her medical degree under ‘Laughlin’ and I respect that.”</p><p>“Laughlin and Saltzman are both better than Mikaelson, that’s for sure. I pity Hope. But then again, well, Hayley did say that her alternate name could be Hope Marshall to keep her safe. I think I like that better. And if in the future, Kol somehow miraculously returns and he ends up with Davina, I’m almost entirely certain he’ll change his name to Kol Claire even if it sounds strange just to be rid of the Mikaelson surname entirely.”</p><p>“I’m guessing you’re a fan of changing your last name?”</p><p>“Yep. Doesn’t matter if I end up marrying a woman or a man.” She then shivered. “Ugh, maybe not with everyone, though. If I had married my ex, my title would have been ‘Lady Hilda de Martel.’ That sounds awful.”</p><p>“I only agree because we’ve established we do not under any circumstances like that guy but other than that, it’s not a terrible name. The name ‘Hilda’ goes well with basically anything.”</p><p>“No it does not,” she giggled. “You’re delusional.”</p><p>“Yes it does! Hilda Mikaelson sounds so elegant. Hilda de Martel… Hilda Gilbert… okay, actually, maybe not that one… Hilda Forbes… Hilda Lockwood— oh, that one would sound decent if you were a werewolf… Hilda Salvatore…”</p><p>“I would never marry either of the Salvatore brothers,” she laughed. “I’d have to be declared legally insane.”</p><p>“Okay, but you get my point, it sounds good with everything. Can you imagine my name? Hell no. Alaric Salvatore is so weird. Alaric Mikaelson— okay, nevermind, that sounds kind of cool—”</p><p>Hilda put her hand over her stomach as she tried to contain her laughter. “If you were to become a Mikaelson, I would laugh <em>incredibly</em> hard. Maybe I only hate my surname so much because of my father. If we actually went with tradition, I think my surname would technically be Mikaeldottir not Mikaelson. But alas, I don’t care. Eventually, my name will change.”</p><p>Alaric cleared his throat after a brief silence. “I’ll let you rest,” he said softly. “I’m sorry, again, for everything. I’m glad that we can still talk as friends.”</p><p>Hilda felt a pang in her heart, and tried to pretend as though this didn’t give her the sensation of being stabbed with Papa Tunde’s blade. “Yeah… friends.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Happy 400 pages! Hope you're all liking this story. Comments are much appreciated! :)</em>
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<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Chapter 38</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <strong>Hilda forgot her animosity the next morning.</strong>
</p><p>“What do you mean she tried to kidnap Hope?” she exclaimed when she was woken by a very livid Klaus.</p><p>“I mean that stupid witch took over and Rebekah is no longer in control of that body,” he said venomously, tearing into her dresser for the enchanted manacles that the twins had made. “She would have taken my daughter had Hayley and I not intervened.”</p><p>Hilda shot out of bed, hastily getting dressed and following after Klaus, who brought the manacles to where Marcel and Hayley awaited in his study. “We really ought to stop packing these manacles away,” said the hybrid angrily. “There’s always someone in need of a good shackling.” He planted the manacles into Marcel’s hands. “Find Rebekah— or Eva— or whoever the bloody hell that was— use these to stop her from doing magic. And don’t hurt her. The non-psychopathic bits are still my sister.”</p><p>Marcel looked worried. “Alright, I won't be the <em>only</em> one looking for her. She killed witch-kids. The twenty-four hour hold that Elijah got the covens to agree to? Ended at midnight. Every witch in the city is gonna be gunning for her.”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips and turned to Hayley. “Perhaps you ought to go to Elijah— see if he can charm that elderly and crusty witch into calling off the hunt.”</p><p>Hayley pursed her lips. “Does that mean you intend to stay here with Hope?”</p><p>“She’ll be helping me,” said Klaus. “Jackson has been working night and day to secure this compound, surrounding it with his werewolf army. Hilda and I won’t leave the Compound just yet. The best way to protect our child, Hayley, is to get Rebekah out of that serial killer's body and back into the original model.”</p><p>Hayley crossed her arms. “And what will you two be doing while we’re out doing all the dirty work?”</p><p>Klaus smirked. “Why, tending to the even dirtier work, as usual. Hilda and I will be consulting Freya. After all, she’s a witch, and Hilda will ensure her spells do not sabotage Rebekah any further.”</p><p>He beckoned for Hilda to take out her phone. “Have you saved her contact yet? Call her.”</p><p>Freya was more than eager to help, which Hilda found surprising considering how she was treated the day before. </p><p>“You said that you could put Rebekah back in her original body,” said Klaus sharply. “Do it.”</p><p>Freya laughed in amusement. “So, you’ve come to your senses?”</p><p>“My senses have not faltered,” said the hybrid. “They still demand that you are not to be trusted. However, circumstance dictates otherwise… for now.”</p><p>Freya and Hilda shared a look. Hilda had not meant to eavesdrop last night, but she had heard Freya telling Klaus about the loss of her child, something Hilda had seen in her mind, and a sensitive topic. Hilda suspected her brother was warming up to Freya, but didn’t way to say that so openly.</p><p>“Eva Sinclair has resumed control of Rebekah’s body,” explained Hilda. “Our sister is trapped inside, and I don’t think we need to go into how dangerous that is.”</p><p>“It won’t be simple,” said Freya, making Klaus’s eyes fiery.</p><p>“More stalling,” he said venomously. “Very well. I know I can't kill you, but I shall have a <em>fine</em> time trying. Tell me, have you ever been skinned alive?”</p><p>Freya shook her head. “The problem is Rebekah’s condition has worsened. When I offered to help, she was in control of Eva's body. Now, she's lost inside Eva. I don't have a spell that could breach Eva's mind and find her. Even with Hilda and I both working on it, it won’t happen today.”</p><p>Klaus’s face grew to bear a wicked smile, and Hilda narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Fortunately for you,” the hybrid murmured, “I know someone well-versed in such spells.”</p><p>He sped off to one of the wooden boxes of supplies that resided in the courtyard and returned, slapping the second existing pair of magic-disabling manacles onto Freya. She blinked at him, and Hilda crossed her arms. “You better not be thinking what I think you’re thinking,” she said.</p><p>He smirked. “Oh, I believe you’ve figured it out, sister.” He took both women by the arms and sped them to the Lafayette Cemetery. He stopped in front of the Lyonne tomb, which made Freya sigh in annoyance.</p><p>“I fail to see the need for these,” said the Mikaelson witch as Klaus pulled her and Hilda inside. “I’m not your enemy.”</p><p>“Oh, they’re not to protect me, love!” said Klaus. “They’re to protect her— the one who knows more about mind invasion and body-jumping than all of us put together.” He pulled two blood bags out of his pocket and tossed them into a dark corner. A hand reached out to snatch the blood up, and the person gulped it down noisily before coming out into the dim light. Still bearing the face of Lenore, Esther stood before them. Freya realized too late who it was.</p><p>“No!” she cried as Klaus shot her a gleeful look. “Mother? Freya. Freya? Mother.” He then moved back to lean onto Hilda’s shoulder. “Let’s see how this goes.”</p><p>“You’re a dick,” said Hilda as Esther stared up at Freya in disbelief. “It… can’t be.”</p><p>“This is absurd,” said Freya, glaring at Klaus with eyes full of loathing. “You won’t trust me, but you’ll trust her.”</p><p>Hilda shook her head, motioning for Klaus not to answer. “We don’t trust her at all. But she’s a vampire now, and can be compelled to give us the information we need.” She stepped forward and took Esther’s face roughly in one hand, staring into her eyes. “You will answer me truthfully, no matter what I ask. Any spells I require will be given to their full accuracy, no details left out. Do I make myself clear?”</p><p>Esther nodded weakly, but was hardly caring to listen to what Hilda was saying. She looked at Freya in surprise, and walked closer to her with her arms out. “My beautiful girl,” she said softly. “My firstborn!”</p><p>Freya growled and tugged at her manacles. “Touch me, and I will use these chains to strangle you!”</p><p>Klaus stepped forward. “Yes, now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, let’s begin, shall we?” He stared at the scowling Esther. “It appears that your <em>delightful</em> sister Dahlia is on her way to New Orleans, hell-bent on stealing my child. I need Rebekah back in her original body so she can help me destroy her.”</p><p>Esther blinked and stepped back, looking shocked. “Your child?”</p><p>Klaus rolled his eyes. “Oh, I suppose it is difficult keeping up on current events whilst rotting inside a tomb.” He clasped his hands together. Very well. The short version? My child is alive. Dahlia <em>is</em> on her way. Now, the previous tenant of Rebekah's body has seized control and isn't keen on giving it up. Young Freya here, although powerful and with the assistance of Hilda, lacks the spell to put Rebekah back in her true body. And that's where <em>you</em> come in.</p><p>Hilda took her turn to compel the woman again. “Dig deep into that mind of yours,” she said, holding Esther’s chin. “Give us the spell to put Rebekah back, and we can all be on our merry way.”</p><p>Esther nodded slowly. She moved carefully through the shadows of the tomb for a paper to write the spell onto. Using a jar of ink and feather quill, she slowly and steadily began to diagram the shapes and incantations needed for the spell. To Hilda and Freya, this was normal— spells needed to be precise and though both impatient, they didn’t urge Esther to hurry up.</p><p>Klaus, on the other hand, had even less patience. “What is taking so long?” he snarled. “You didn’t tarry when you attempted to kill my child!”</p><p>Esther looked almost hurt. “I took no joy in that! I knew if your daughter lived, Dahlia would come, not only for her, but for all of you! And however you may despise me, I would not wish that upon you.”</p><p>“How touching,” muttered Hilda under her breath.</p><p>“Isn’t it?” agreed Freya. “I always wondered what maternal compassion sounded like. Of course, I wouldn't know, since you sold me into slavery at the age of five!”</p><p>Esther cast her a frustrated look. “When I made that bargain with my sister, I had no idea what it <em>meant</em> to be a mother! I thought if I had a dozen children, I would not miss the one. And then, you were born. You were beautiful. You had a light about you that put a smile on the face of the hardest man I had <em>ever</em> known. And when Dahlia took you, I thought that same light might warm her embittered heart…. That you might lead a good life.”</p><p>This only enraged Freya. “A good life?” she spat, stepping forward to speak in Esther’s face. “You were my <em>mother!</em> You should have come for me!”</p><p>Esther nodded slowly. “Yes. I should have. But, it would have been a mistake.” She faced Klaus. “The same mistake you will be making if you let this girl help you.”</p><p>Hilda sped forward and gripped Esther roughly by the throat. “Excuse me?” she sneered. “You don’t get to insult Freya when you abandoned her.”</p><p>The woman attempted to remain calm. “The light I saw in Freya as a child, it's gone. While she was mine for five years, Dahlia was her mentor for a thousand. And, like her mentor, she will offer to solve your problem, but for a <em>price</em>.”</p><p>Freya was obviously offended. “There is no price! I love them!” She lunged for Esther, but Hilda held her hand out to stop her. “You can kill her after she finishes writing the spell,” she said, making Klaus chuckle darkly.</p><p>“Honestly, it’s all temper and no timing with this one,” said Klaus, motioning toward Freya as he faced his mother. “I, for one, am glad you gave her away so that I could be born. You should think of me as an upgrade!”</p><p>Hilda glared at him as she released Esther from her grip. “You think of yourself as the upgrade? <em>Seriously?”</em></p><p>“Oh, I forget, you were the jewel in Mikael’s eye for a brief time,” said Klaus, looking amused. He then saw that Esther had set down her quill. “Have you finally finished?”</p><p>Esther nodded and handed the spell to Hilda. The younger Original took the paper and went to stand beside Freya, the two sisters looking it over. Freya immediately frowned. “I can’t do this,” she said quietly. “This spell requires an enormous amount of power.”</p><p>“Which you have,” said Esther simply.</p><p>“And that power needs to be anchored, or I’ll be lost inside Eva’s mind along with Rebekah,” continued Freya. “Unlike your magic, mine isn't anchored to any one place— because of you, I have no home.”</p><p>Esther didn’t deny this. “Perhaps. But there is no other spell.”</p><p>“I can be the anchor,” said Hilda, tracing her fingers over the runes. </p><p>“Yes!” said Freya, looking pleased that she offered. “Yes, I like that. I’ll channel your power while I breach Eva’s mind.”</p><p>“And there it is,” said Esther lowly. “The price. If she channels you, she will have access to your mind, past and present. She will know <em>everything</em> about you.”</p><p>Hilda glared at her. “I know that, Mother, I’m not an idiot. She’s already seen into my mind, I let her. I don’t care if she knows my secrets as long as she keeps Rebekah from being a threat to my niece.”</p><p>There were footsteps and Elijah stepped in. “You may need a second anchor,” he mused aloud. “I will offer myself.”</p><p>“Brother, I think not!” snapped Klaus, now looking suspiciously at Freya after Esther’s comment.</p><p>Elijah was annoyed. “Brother, whatever this is, nothing must prevent us from saving our sister.”</p><p>“Oh, yes, by all means,” said Klaus, “let's give Dahlia's <em>whelp</em> access to all the information she needs to destroy us!”</p><p>Hilda threw her hands in the air. “If she wanted to destroy us, she would have already done it!”</p><p>Elijah nodded in agreement. “And, Niklaus,” he added, pointing at Esther, “since when do we heed the words of this serpent?”</p><p>“ENOUGH!” Freya yelled. She yanked her arms down and the manacles broke off of her arms. She flicked her wrist and snapped Klaus’s neck, leaving him unconscious on the floor. Elijah and Hilda blinked mildly in surprised as Freya looked down at Klaus’s unconscious body. “For an upgraded model, you’re not very sharp.”</p><p>Hilda found herself genuinely smiling for the first time in awhile. “Shall we get going, then?” she inquired. </p><p>They arrived shortly after in the Warehouse District of New Orleans. Marcel and the man who had hosted Finn— Vincent Griffin— awaited with the unconscious body of Eva Sinclair. “This is where she’s been holding the captured children,” explained Elijah, gesturing around them. “Including Davina.”</p><p>Hilda made a face and set down the spell, seeing that a bag of supplies had already been prepared for them by Vincent. She started to make a circle of herbs and salt while Freya set candles around, lighting them with a simple wave of her hand. “Lay her inside the salt, and lie on either side of her,” she instructed the two men. “Each of you take her hand.”</p><p>Freya stepped back, motioning for Hilda and Elijah to stand near her. “I will act as a bridge into her mind, but I’m trusting you both to anchor me.”</p><p>Elijah nodded. “Do what you need to do.”</p><p>Marcel and Vincent obediently set Eva down before laying on either side of her, taking hold of her hands. “Rebekah is buried deep,” Freya added. “Eva will not give her up without a fight.”</p><p>“Then she gets a fight,” said Marcel without missing a beat.</p><p>“Just be careful,” warned Hilda. “You’re entering Eva’s mind. If she kills you in there, you’ll be lost. And if you kill her before you free Rebekah, then <em>Rebekah</em> will be gone forever. Once you have Rebekah, then, and <em>only</em> then, can Eva be dealt with.”</p><p>Vincent drew a deep breath. “We got it.” Freya stepped forward once again, kneeling beside Vincent. “You’ll need a weapon.” She pulled out a knife and held it out to Vincent, who stared at her in confusion. “How am I supposed to take that with me?”</p><p>Freya held the knife and chanted, “<em>Lamina ferri in mentem. Lamina ferri in mentem.</em>” She then looked down at Vincent with a slight grimace. “This… is going to hurt.” She stabbed him in the arm with the knife, eliciting a scream of pain which was cut off as he fell unconscious, followed closely by Marcel. </p><p>Freya stepped back and took Hilda and Elijah’s hands. “Hilda, if you will join me in chanting,” said Freya before she closed her eyes, “<em>Pontem praesidio. Anchora immortalibus. Pontem praesidio. Anchora immortalibus.</em>”</p><p>Hilda and Elijah had to struggle to hold Freya down as the power of the spell made her back arch, as though it intended to break through her spine. Hilda joined her in chanting, “<em>Pontem praesidio. Anchora immortalibus. Pontem praesidio. Anchora immortalibus.</em>”</p><p>Elijah started to shout out, and Hilda had to force herself to keep chanting. It was as though an invisible force was attempting to rip Freya right off of the ground. Hilda cracked an eye open and saw that Marcel was bleeding from his eyes and Vincent was twitching. She continued to chant, but it was clear that something was wrong.</p><p>Hilda started to feel pain after about the fifth time of chanting. Her side ached and she had to grind her heels against the floor to weigh herself down. Elijah shouted again, using both of his arms to pull Freya down. Hilda felt her own body wanting to move against her will, and she felt a chill run down her spine. “Freya!” she shrieked, ceasing her chanting. “I-I think— I think we’re losing them!”</p><p>Freya seemed desperate to find a solution in the next ten seconds, but to their surprise, Klaus stepped up and took Hilda’s free hand. “We’re not finished, you and I,” he said sharply to freya. “But for right now? Save our youngest sister.”</p><p>The eldest Mikaelson nodded, and she and Hilda both closed their eyes again, resuming their chant, “<em>Pontem praesidio. Anchora immortalibus. Pontem praesidio. Anchora immortalibus.</em></p><p>There was a loud gasp after the second time, and both Marcel and Vincent shot up, making the four Original siblings leap apart from the energy released as they woke. Marcel immediately got up and looked over Eva’s face. She had yet to show any signs of life.</p><p>“Did it work?” asked Klaus anxiously.</p><p>Marcel didn’t answer. The four vampires present heard the unmistakably gentle call of Davina in the next room. The youngest vampire sped off, and seconds later, called out, “They’re okay!”</p><p>Hilda sighed in relief and went to kneel in front of Rebekah as Vincent tended to his wounded arm. She pressed her fingers against her neck. “I feel a pulse,” she murmured. “And her heartbeat sounds steady…” she gripped her shoulders and shook her lightly, which made the woman croak loudly as her eyes snapped open. </p><p>There was a tense moment of worry, and then, the woman let out a deep breath. “Bloody hell!” she said, looking at Hilda. “Don’t stand so close to someone when they wake up, Hilly, I can have heart attacks now!”</p><p>Hilda found herself laughing. “Hey, don’t judge me, Bex, you’re the one who’s on the floor of a random warehouse!”</p><p>Rebekah sat up, and Hilda pulled her up, enclosing her in a hug. It felt like the most normal thing. Hilda’s anger at Rebekah specifically felt forgotten now, and all she cared about was that she was okay. It would be harder to forgive Elijah and Klaus, but at least, Hilda was glad to feel almost as though she forgave her sister.</p><p>“How about some drinks?” offered Freya, beaming at the two of them. “Just us three sisters.”</p><p>Elijah feigned offense. “Are we not invited?”</p><p>“Please, you have expensive liquor in the Compound,” said Freya teasingly. “It’s a girl’s day. We have several hours to just relax.”</p><p>Hilda couldn’t remember the last time she felt so carefree. They had gone to Rousseau's, and Cami had been properly introduced to Freya. The instant her shift was over, they asked her to join them at the table, and the four women chatted about everything that wasn’t supernatural. The best locations for vacations. Sports they thought were fascinating. Even attractive celebrities. Hilda had the sensation that Freya was just as bicurious as she was, but she didn’t voice it. After all, Freya hadn’t had much freedom and perhaps she hadn’t tuned into it just yet.</p><p>When Hilda got back to her room in the evening, she was beyond pleased. She felt that she could be safe around her sisters. Not to mention she was seeing exactly why Klaus seemed to fancy Camille. </p><p>She strode past the werewolves at the entrance, offering them a courteous wave before pulling out her phone and dialing Alaric’s number as she shut the door behind her.</p><p>“Hey,” he answered. “Guess what?”</p><p>“Ooh, you’ve been promoted to Dean of the Occult Studies College at Whitmore.”</p><p>“Pfft, no. I believe Damon told you about the 1903 prison world?”</p><p>“Yes, he did. How did that go?”</p><p>“They got Lily Salvatore out and Bonnie managed to leave Kai behind. He’s not a problem anymore.”</p><p>Hilda did not see why this thrilled him. “Hang on. But… I was under the impression he hadn’t been a problem since he Merged with Luke. I thought he was blasted full of positive emotions.”</p><p>“It was more of a precaution. I don’t blame Bonnie. He treated her really badly and left her in the 1994 prison world.”</p><p>“I don’t blame her either. Her anger is justified. Just… why? Perhaps Kai would have fared better in therapy.”</p><p>“From what she told us, he was threatening to gut her while they were inside.”</p><p>“I guess so. It just doesn’t sit very well with me, Ric. I would never wish for anyone to be stuck in a continuous loop of a single day for an endless amount of time. Is she betting that the Heretics in there will kill him?”</p><p>“I think so. Why? Should I be more worried? The Ascendant’s been destroyed. No one can get in to free them.”</p><p>“Er, yes, you should definitely be worried. Heretics are siphons before anything else. If he finds a way to wake them… look, like I said before, there are always loopholes. Those Heretics know older magic that he might not know. If there is even a drop of Bonnie’s blood on the clothes he was wearing… and you’re forgetting there’s still a copy of the Ascendant in that world. Bennett blood can be found in 1903 even if his clothes have no blood on them. If Kai were to know where the old Bennett homes were…”</p><p>Alaric swore loudly. “Damn it. I… I don’t think any of us thought about that.”</p><p>“Let’s hope Kai doesn’t figure anything out. Keep a close watch on Lily Salvatore. I wouldn’t trust her.”</p><p>“Trust me, not even Damon trusts her. She’s insistent on going back into the prison world to get her ‘family.’”</p><p>“Well… I don’t really blame her, either. She made her own family. And usually, families that you choose and make are the ones that end up being more special.”</p><p>“Is your family treating you better?”</p><p>“A bit. Rebekah and I are on normal speaking terms again. Freya… she’s amazing, Ric. I really wish I would have grown up with her as my older sister. And they’re both witches right now, which is even better. I can imagine that with the two of them and Davina… we can bring Kol back. I still have his urn in my room and we can resurrect him into his Original body.”</p><p>“If you need any extra help… just let me know, okay? I can help research or supply anything you need. I can always see if Jo’s sister and Bonnie want to help.”</p><p>“Oh! No, no, you don’t have to do that, it’s alright, I don’t think Bonnie will be too chuffed about being asked to resurrect the Original who briefly wanted to flirt with her… and then ended up tormenting her on her graduation day. As for Liv, no, I don’t want to ask her to bring back my twin after she lost hers. We can manage. I just need the moral support, really.”</p><p>“Alright. I can help you write a speech of all the things you want to say to Kol when he comes back. Like, a sonnet from Shakespeare.”</p><p>Hilda giggled. “Oh, yes, certainly. Maybe you can help me find him a welcome home present. You know about some historical artifacts he might like. Things we can snatch up from a museum…”</p><p>“Mmm, I normally wouldn’t condone that behavior, but for you and your brother, I guess we can make an exception.” He then paused. “Um, so Jo and I went to the first ultrasound.”</p><p>“Aw, that’s awesome,” said Hilda, trying to sound very happy about it. “How did it go?”</p><p>“Baby seems healthy. The doctor said it’s a bit too early to know what it is but progress is good as of now. Jo’s ecstatic, but she knows better than anyone about the crazy things that can happen during pregnancy and she’s a bit worried.”</p><p>“Oooh, that stuff always creeps me out. Poor humans. It would be better if, after giving birth, one could be given vampire blood to heal properly.”</p><p>“I might ask if she’s up for it, so that she’s not in pain after. I think I’m most scared for the labor even though that’s almost an entire year away. And then… all the stuff that comes after that…”</p><p>Hilda drew a deep breath. “You’re going to be an amazing dad, Ric. You don’t have to worry about that. You parented two teenagers already and you’ve been a high school teacher and college Professor. Being a dad will be easy. You just have to be gentle. My mother trusted us all to hold Henrik as long as we stayed still, even though we were quite young. Babies are fragile but they’re not made of porcelain. They won’t shatter into pieces. Just support its head and be ready for stinky diapers and honestly… it’s not that bad.”</p><p>“Jo and I will probably need to ask you for tips all the time, since you’ve actually cared for babies. Jo says it’s not the same as treating a baby when it’s a patient.”</p><p>Hilda mustered a smile. “Yeah, sure. I’ve only ever cared for two babies, but Henrik and Hope are good examples.” She checked the time and licked her lips. “I’ll talk to you later. I think a show I like is coming onto the television soon.”</p><p>“Sure,” replied Alaric. “Take care, Hilda.”</p><p>She hung up quickly. It was a complete lie— she hardly watched television. She just didn’t want to ponder on the fact that he seemed to have completely moved on, no matter what Damon said.</p><p>“Like I said,” she spoke aloud to no one in particular. “It’s never going to be me.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Chapter 39</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda awoke to angry conversation.</strong>
</p><p>She stumbled out of bed, rubbing her eyes and quickly getting dressed and washed up in time to see a plate soaring past her head.</p><p>“What’s going on?” she asked tiredly, seeing all her siblings and Hayley in the study.</p><p>“Tell me, sister,” said Klaus, glaring at Hayley, “what’s the point of making the Compound a fortress if one will be stepping outside instead of staying within its walls for safety?”</p><p>“Okay, we get it!” snapped Hayley. “Now, let’s figure out what the hell we’re gonna do!”</p><p>“What I would like to do,” spat Klaus, “is take a strong leash—”</p><p>“Excuse me,” Hilda said loudly. <em>“What happened?”</em></p><p>“Dahlia’s here,” said Hayley, casting a nasty look at Klaus. “Jackson and I just wanted Hope to get some air so we took her out and all of the sudden, basically everyone around us was possessed by her and talking to us.”</p><p>Freya pursed her lips and stepped closer to Hilda. “The spell she described… Dahlia calls it ‘kenning.’ Using proxies to watch her enemies from afar. But I’ve never seen it done on quite this scale.”</p><p>Klaus looked suspicious. “Hilda, have you ever heard of such a thing.”</p><p>“Yes,” she said. “But like Freya said— never heard of it with such magnitude. Usually witches who try it can only manage it on one person at a time, if they’re lucky.”</p><p>Hayley sighed in frustration. “Awesome. So, basically every Hurricane-chugging, boob-flashing tourist on Bourbon Street is a potential <em>spy</em>.”</p><p>Freya tried to reassure her. “The good news is, I know a little about how her magic works.” She gestured toward a tray waiting on the table before them, bearing a silver kettle and six teacups full of brown liquid. “This tonic will at least prevent her from using any of us.”</p><p>Hilda, Rebekah, and Freya each took a cup, but their brothers were reluctant to even make a move toward the tray. “Well, come on!” Rebekah encouraged as Freya and Hilda each downed the liquid, grimacing at the taste. “This should work like a charm.”</p><p>“It will,” said Hilda, sticking her tongue out and making a face. “It tastes terrible.”</p><p>Elijah and Hayley each made a move for a cup, but Klaus crossed his arms, watching them down the concoction. Elijah raised an eyebrow and sighed in annoyance when Klaus did not accept the final cup. “Niklaus, is there something you wish to contribute.”</p><p>Klaus shrugged. “I prefer biscuits with my tea.”</p><p>“Don’t be a prat,” said Hilda, picking up the cup and thrusting it towards him. “Drink.”</p><p>Klaus moved the cup away. “Our minds are far too strong to be invaded by kenning spells.”</p><p>“Everyone says that until it happens to them,” said Hilda scathingly. <em>“Drink.”</em></p><p>Klaus knocked the glass right out of her hand, letting it spill on the floor. “No!” he said coldly. “What we experienced was a test. Dahlia's <em>watching</em> to see how we respond to aggression. She's preparing for battle. My guess is sooner, rather than later.”</p><p>Hayley frowned. “Well, if she was watching us, she would know that we have our own <em>army.</em>”</p><p>“She also knows where we are,” said Elijah. “And, given the immense nature of her power, we simply do not know what to expect from her. What we need is to create a new stronghold. Something that Dahlia knows nothing about. A sanctuary from any witchcraft.”</p><p>“That’s a fine strategy,” said Freya. “I offer another— we can use Jackson to trace her magic back to its source. Find out exactly where she is.”</p><p>They all inherently turned to look at Hayley, who sighed reluctantly. “Fine. Do it.”</p><p>“Good, it’s settled,” said Klaus. “Off you pop to your respective tasks. Me? I've always been of the opinion that the best defense is a good offense. So, I'm going to find a way to murder that godforsaken witch.” He yanked at Hilda’s arm as he walked past her. “And you’re going to help me.”</p><p>“Why would I help you?” she demanded as he led her out. </p><p>“Because I need to speak to Davina. You’ve been working with her on the spell to revive Kol, haven’t you?”</p><p>“Yes, but that doesn’t mean she’ll want to listen to <em>you</em>.”</p><p>“Which is why you’ll be coming along to sway her.”</p><p>He sped them to the Lafayette Cemetery, where they found Davina in front of Kaleb Westphall’s tomb, laying flowers. She sensed their arrival and turned, nodding courteously at Hilda, but glaring at Klaus. “What do you want?” she demanded.</p><p>Klaus smiled casually. “Well, perhaps I'm merely concerned about you. You <em>do</em> seem to spend an inordinate amount of time in graveyards for a teenager. It's a rather morbid habit.”</p><p>“Cut to the chase,” said Hilda, pinching his arm.</p><p>“Fine,” said the hybrid. “Mikael. It appears that my sister, Freya, has dispatched him to gather some items I require, and seeing as how <em>you</em> brought him back from the dead, I'm guessing you have the means to find him.”</p><p>Hilda added, “Pretty please. I’ve already mentioned I have Kol’s ashes and we can meet up once Dahlia’s out of the way so that we can bring him back.”</p><p>Davina sighed. “Fine. But only because you’re Kol’s twin.” She looked at Klaus as if to say, <em>‘I wouldn’t have done this for you.’</em></p><p>Once Davina located him, the three began to walk down the street in his direction. “So, what’s the deal, anyway?” asked Davina, looking up at Klaus. “Aiden at your beck and call now?” She took a seat at a bench, checking her watch.</p><p>“I’m simply mentoring a promising young wolf,” said Klaus as he and Hilda sat on either side of the young witch. </p><p>“Josh isn’t gonna be too happy when he finds out about it,” said Davina pointedly.</p><p>Klaus rolled his eyes. “And I am <em>shaking</em> in my boots at the mere thought of his displeasure. You see, Davina, Josh and Aiden are in love, which means they both have something to lose, thus making them all too easily manipulated... should the need arise.”</p><p>Davina frowned. “It must really suck to have to be you all the time.”</p><p>Hilda snorted, and Klaus looked slightly embarrassed. “Well… it hasn’t been a picnic… honestly.”</p><p>Davina sighed. “You know, the thing is, you have that thing, too, don't you? Someone you love more than <em>anything,</em> even yourself. How does that feel, to be one of us? Someone with something to lose?”</p><p>Neither Original made a comment. Hilda shot up at the sight of a cab pulling up at the opposite curb and saw Mikael stepping out. The two siblings shared a look before speeding right in front of Mikael as he shut the door.</p><p>“Well, well, well, well,” he said, making Hilda stifle a laugh. “If it isn’t the bastard himself and the abominable wench I have to call a daughter. Have you both come looking for another beating?”</p><p>Klaus was unimpressed. “As much as I'd love to kill you again, I wonder if our interests might be better served by joining forces. You know full well the threat we face. So, how about it, <em>Father?</em> Care to join your bastard son on a witch-hunt?”</p><p>Mikael smiled darkly, clearly intrigued. “A witch hunt?” he mused. “Hilda, I am surprised to hear you on board with this. Last I knew, you were still desiring to be one of those abominable magicians.”</p><p>“Well, <em>Father</em>,” she said venomously in imitation of Klaus as she and her brother began to walk to one of the nearby restaurants, “even I know that some of those <em>magicians</em> are stupid twats who need to be put down. Was it not you who taught me to kill those who bothered me?”</p><p>“Shall we pretend you actually absorbed anything I taught you?” he said scathingly. </p><p>“Maybe I would have absorbed it if you hadn’t constantly been comparing me to the sister I only met some days ago,” she muttered, shoving open the restaurant door. The three walked in and took a booth beside the window. Klaus pulled out the White Oak stake from his pocket, and Mikael glared at the two once the siblings sat side by side.</p><p>A waitress came over and cast the stake a curious look. “You want some fries with that stake?”</p><p>If one thing was made blatantly clear in that moment, it was that Hilda and Mikael were more alike than either liked to acknowledge. Klaus laughed in amusement, but the father and daughter remained blank faced, as though they were insulted that such a weak joke had been made in their presence. Klaus would never dare voice it, but in that moment, their faces were nearly identical, except for the aged skin that marked Mikael as far older and of course the feminine features Hilda bore.</p><p>“I bought one of my own at Marie Laveau’s voodoo shop,” the waitress said, smiling at Klaus.</p><p>“I’ll have a bourbon, please, sweetheart,” said the hybrid. Hilda cast her a cheeky smile. “A water. Plain, like you.”</p><p>The waitress stopped smiling and faced Mikael, who growled. “Nothing. Leave us.”</p><p>The woman walked off, and Klaus rolled his eyes. “Needn’t be so rude, Hilda,” he muttered.</p><p>“Not in a good mood, in case you can’t tell,” she said, gesturing toward Mikael.</p><p>Their father sneered. “I despise this city.”</p><p>Klaus clapped his hands together. “Let’s cut to the chase then, shall we? Your precious Freya told me she sent you off to procure certain items that will expedite the death of your sister-in-law. May I assume you completed your task?”</p><p>Mikael stared at the two in front of him. “There are three elements total. Combined, they represent Dahlia's sole weakness. If you'd like to try and take them, by all means, have at it.”</p><p>Hilda growled. “It’s always violence with you, hmm? You may think us weak, <em>Father</em>, but you’ve got to know you’re outmatched going up against the two of us. Maybe I wasn’t your favorite daughter for choosing to be a witch, but I can still snap your bones without need for magic.” She leaned back. “What is it he tried to teach us, Nik? Ah, yes, <em>‘The true Viking warrior hones his fear like a blade!’”</em></p><p>Klaus smirked, but Mikael looked quite peeved. “Did you come here to critique my parenting skills?” he demanded. “Or to whine about how little you were loved.” He faced Klaus. “You were weak before, but you are weaker still.” He looked toward Hilda, but seemed to find nothing to say anymore. After all, his main criticisms always had to do with her choosing to follow magic. Now, his favorite child was back and a full-fledged witch. </p><p>“If you truly thought me weak,” mused the hybrid, holding up the White Oak stake, “you would snatch this weapon from my hand. But, you don't, because you know better.”</p><p>Hilda moved his arm down. “Let’s focus on our common enemy. We don’t wish to take your materials from you. We ask that instead of giving them to Freya and pushing her into danger— a danger I assume you’d understand by now, granted the two of you seem to have had a nice talk— it would be much wiser to join us. If we win, both you and Klaus’s daughters will be completely safe. Freya and Hope will have nothing to fear. And if we lose, Klaus and I will die and you can be fulfilled with the knowledge that we both got what was coming to us.”</p><p>Mikael cracked his knuckles. “And what is in it for you?” he said. “Perhaps Niklaus and I are motivated because our eldest child is in peril. But you? What will you gain from this?”</p><p>“Does everyone need a concrete reason? I care about both Freya and Hope. And you might call me weak for that, but is it really so wrong for me to desire freedom for my niece and sister? You’re not the only one who missed Freya. I ought to remind you that you made my childhood unbearable because I never lived up to your expectation of what she would have been. All I would like is for them to be out of harm’s way.”</p><p>Mikael seemed almost stunned to hear this. She continued, "And another thing, it's not safe for me to bring my brother back until that wretched cow's corpse is buried under one thousand tons of cement and dropped in the Atlantic Ocean. You will probably never understand what it's like to care so much about someone but I won't stand for Kol dying a third time."</p><p>"You twins never were separated," he muttered. "Every bloody day, tagging along together, crying together, failing together. A pair of weaklings."</p><p>She cast him a dark look. "Yes, and we've still got the scars that you gave us, in the same places." She tore up her sleeve to show an almost faded mark running along the length her wrist, as thick as one of her fingers. "Remember that? You gave it to both Kol and I on a day that we skinned our knees trying to run through the forest and fetch an arrow you fired. You grew angry we didn't get back fast enough. You didn't care we were limping or bleeding. You cracked the whip down and opened a new wound right here, said that if we were strong enough, we'd survive. We nearly died that day because you cut through our veins and we were too young to know how to stop the bleeding properly."</p><p>She pulled up her other sleep to show a deeper and glossier scar on her forearm. "That one? You cut into us with a knife all because we asked for a break after Elijah accidentally knocked us both on the head with the wooden staff you cut for him. We were dizzy and just needed a small rest and instead you said we'd have a new task— to learn how not to succumb to potential infection. That scar is only wretched because your knife was dirty. Modern medicine could have saved us such an ugly mark, but no, you even refused to let our mother heal us. We had to find the herbs and hope we weren't poisoning ourselves more."</p><p>She tugged her shirt to the side to show a mark under her collarbone, a jagged but smaller mark. "You took us up to the top of a tree while we were asleep and left us there, saying we needed to learn how to adapt to unfamiliar situations in the blink of an eye. This is one of the few scars that I have that doesn't match Kol's exactly. We fell. We could have snapped our necks. You got angry that we didn't come down sooner."</p><p>She then tucked her shirt back in place. "Not to mention the dozens of scars on my back and abdomen from you striking us with your sword hilt or whip or a branch to punish us for things that weren't our fault. So don't you dare speak to me about my brother and don't you dare mention 'failing' as though you weren't the main reason we became such monsters."</p><p>The waitress returned with two glasses of bourbon and a water. Mikael looked displeased to have been given a glass when he didn’t ask for one, but he remained silent, as though he didn't wish to contribute to Hilda's hostility anymore. He pulled it up and sniffed it, then grimaced and set it back down. Hilda rolled her eyes and snatched it up, taking it and downing the entire thing, flicking the water in his direction. </p><p>Klaus smirked. “Father, son, and daughter… working together. I admit, I never thought I'd live to see the day, and that's something, coming from me.”</p><p>Mikael glared at him. “And what makes you think I need your help? Others may tremble at the mere mention of your name, but <em>I</em> know you for what you truly are— a little boy desperate for a daddy.”</p><p>“A thousand years ago, perhaps,” said Klaus. “A thousand years ago, perhaps. But, I think we can both agree the intervening centuries have turned me into an all-together different beast. Your <em>cruelty</em> made sure of that. And I <em>am</em> vicious, and <em>hateful</em>— just like you. It's precisely those qualities that make us uniquely suited for murdering that witch.”</p><p>“And why would I trust either of you?”</p><p>“Because my daughter's <em>life</em> depends on it! And you love yours, as I love mine. You see, we're fighting for the same thing, you and I— to save the lives of the <em>only ones</em> who do not see us as the monsters that we truly are. And as Hilda mentioned, she is aiding us both in ensuring our daughters are safe.”</p><p>Mikael seemed to concede at least, and faced Hilda. “Tell me what you propose.”</p><p>“You have the means to make the weapon we need,” said Hilda quietly, looking around the restaurant. “All that remains is to go in for the kill. I can make sure we assemble everything correctly. Freya needn’t get involved. Davina can help us perform the magic.”</p><p>Her father opened his mouth to respond, but faltered. The siblings turned to where he was facing and saw that their waitress was standing outside of the restaurant, looking at them through the window beside their table. Her eyes were pure white. She raised her hand and the glass exploded.</p><p>Mikael, Klaus, and Hilda dived out of the way to avoid being hit. When they got back up, the waitress was back to normal and walking down the street looking mildly confused. </p><p>“It would appear Dahlia shares that sentiment,” said Mikael coldly.</p><p>Hilda rolled up her sleeves as Klaus kept Mikael from speeding away ahead of them. “One final hunt together?” he said. “Do try to keep up, old man.”</p><p>Hilda and Klaus shared an amused look before speeding away, finding that Davina awaited them in a secluded alley, already setting up for a spell. She flinched a bit when they arrived. Hilda dropped down beside her and started to help spread the salt into specific runes, humming lowly to herself.</p><p>“Hurry it up, would you?” said Klaus impatiently.</p><p>“After this, Klaus, don’t ask me for more favors,” said Davina, rolling her eyes.</p><p>Klaus crossed his arms. “Whatever you may think of me, I am a man of my word.”</p><p>Mikael arrived behind him. “Actually,” he said, making Davina turn and look at him in surprise. “He’s a liar, a beast, and a degenerate, but in this exceptional instance, he may be of some use.”</p><p>Klaus sighed and looked at Hilda. “Well, sister, I can see one improvement in this situation. He’s run out of insults for you.”</p><p>“A once in a lifetime occurrence, I’m sure,” she muttered as Mikael watched her finish spreading the runes. </p><p>“Dahlia’s minion remains within St. Anne’s Church,” he reported. </p><p>“Clearly, it’s a trap,” pointed out Klaus.</p><p>Mikael let out an exasperated sigh. “Of <em>course</em> it's a trap! And how good is it that we bring surprises of our own?”</p><p>Klaus and Mikael smirked at each other, and Davina cast them an incredulous look. “Wait, so are you all friends now?”</p><p>“Absolutely not,” answered Hilda. Mikael looked almost disappointed to hear how soon she answered. “We merely aligned out of necessity for the purpose we both enjoy the most— <em>glorious murder</em>. In fact, you'll be helping.”</p><p>Davina held up her hands and looked at Hilda. “You said you just needed a binding spell.”</p><p>“And that wasn’t a lie,” said Hilda as Mikael pulled out the supplies. “Here, my lovely little witch, is what you will bind.” He extracted two leather pouches and a bottle of blood, handing them to her one at a time. “Soil from Dahlia's homeland, that which links her to this mortal coil. Along with Viking ash, that of her oppressors, the source of her immense hatred. And finally, blood of her adopted child, my beloved daughter Freya, the closest thing to love that miserable witch has ever known.”</p><p>“Wow, never thought I’d hear him use the word ‘love’ in such a positive instance,” said Hilda to Klaus as Davina set the items out into the circle.</p><p>“All the sources of her power bound together to create a weakness,” murmured Davina. “So, what do you want me to do?”</p><p>Mikael extracted a knife from his pocket. “Bind the ingredients into this.”</p><p>Klaus and Hilda both rolled their eyes. “You just wouldn't be you if you didn't have a knife, would you?” said Klaus.</p><p>“Well, perhaps you can steal it later and dull its blade with your ‘art,’” snapped Mikael.</p><p>Hilda smirked. “No, no, you know nothing of art supplies, <em>Father</em>. That type of knife will be no good. That’s the type of knife you use to skin someone when you want information.”</p><p>“And she calls <em>me</em> violent,” said Mikael lowly.</p><p>Hilda shot him a cheeky smile before kneeling beside Davina. “You’ve got this. Once Dahlia’s gone, I’ll show up at the playhouse with the ashes and we’ll see if our first attempt is successful.”</p>
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<a name="section0040"><h2>40. Chapter 40</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>They should have known better than to go after Dahlia.</strong>
</p><p>The three walked into St. Anne’s Church, expecting to see Dahlia there already, but there wasn’t even a trace of her minions. The candles were lit and the sacristy was bare. The pews were clean and empty of the occasional bit of paper that drifted in from the open windows.</p><p>“Well?” said Klaus loudly as they moved down the aisle. He and Mikael were at the front, with Hilda bringing up the rear. He turned toward the side, expecting to see Dahlia there. “What are you waiting for, you crone?”</p><p>They all looked back at the sacristy as a presence was made apparent. “Not that you’ve arrives,” spoke the aging but still-powerful witch, “not a thing!” Her dark eyes drifted over Mikael, who was clutching the infused blade tightly in his hand.</p><p>What became blatantly clear to the three Originals was that Dahlia indeed looked like their family. Hilda and Kol had always wondered where their darker hair came from. Hilda especially wondered why she, Elijah, and Finn had tanner skin than that of their parents and siblings. </p><p>Now, it was obvious that it came from the maternal grandparents they’d never known. Dahlia looked more like Hilda than anyone else. Though Hilda bore similarities to Freya and Mikael, she and Dahlia could have been twins, simply born decades apart. Dahlia’s nose and her longer locks were really the only difference— their lips, eyes, bone structure, figure, and complexion were exactly the same. Even with her age, Dahlia retained a slight look of youth. Perhaps, an outsider would have pinpointed them as mother and daughter.</p><p>Dahlia offered them a smile. “Let us begin.” She raised her arms and from the wings of the church, dozens of humans appeared, though it was a surprise to the three Originals considering they hadn’t sensed their presence before. They must have been heavily cloaked.</p><p>Mikael chuckled darkly as he, Klaus, and Hilda formed a sort of triangle facing out at those who surrounded him. “We are well-met,” he mused. “So be it. Are you ready?”</p><p>Klaus smirked. “I was born ready.”</p><p>Hilda didn’t answer. She launched at Dahlia’s minions first, snarling and snapping necks easily, biting and clawing and tearing through bodies. But suddenly, Hilda let out a cry of pain, blood abruptly leaking from her nose. She saw that the woman she’d been about to attack had held her hand up, inducing a pounding headache that seemed to spread into Klaus and Mikael, who let out similar grunts, the three forced onto their knees to face Dahlia, who was looking rather smug.</p><p>“Ah, I should have warned you,” she said. “My acolytes are… rather formidable.” The three Originals struggled to their feet, fighting against the magic as the witch watched them closely. “I gifted them with a fraction of my own power… to help level the playing field.”</p><p>Three of the acolytes thrust out their hands, and the Originals were sent flying in different directions. Mikael and Hilda were thrown on either end, smashing into the pews and breaking them into pieces. Klaus growled and lunged at Dahlia, but with ease, he was tossed so high that he broke through the balcony railing before splatting forward.</p><p>Hilda was the first to recover, but she immediately swayed. Was it normal to feel so exhausted? Mikael and Klaus followed suit, but they were all bleeding. In a fit of rage, the three lashed out at the remaining acolytes, growling and slashing and feeding on any who stood. It became obvious that Dahlia was letting this happen, but they continued until all the bodies had dropped onto the floor. It was an easy task, with all the pent up anger each carried. If there was one thing Hilda and Klaus had learned from Mikael, it was to leave only dead bodies. Though Klaus had not followed through in this and had crafted his sireline, Hilda remained fixated on the idea of death without possibility of return. No vampire would ever be born from her line unless she had a say in it.</p><p>Dahlia clapped slowly— almost mockingly— before leaning back against the sacristy. “Quite the operatic performance! Though, that is the thing with these grand tragedies. In the end, all the heroes… die.” </p><p>She thrust out a clenched fist, and immediately, Klaus, Mikael, and Hilda went rigid, falling back to their knees as Dahlia started forcing their desiccation. Hilda tried to fight it, tried to concentrate as she watched Dahlia flick her other wrist to send Mikael’s blade clattering across the floor ahead of them. Klaus and Hilda lunged forward, crawling desperately across the ground in hopes of catching the hilt before Dahlia got to it, but the just smirked, not trying to move it away.</p><p>“You struggle with such passion,” she observed. “All in defense of the ones you love. An honorable quality. One… I had not anticipated, given the reputation that precedes you.”</p><p>Hilda forced herself in to an awkward sort of jump, wrapping her palm around the knife. Dahlia began to walk forward and before Hilda could get up, she said, “Still, a bit too little, too late.”</p><p>Hilda’s body was sent flying back, the knife falling out of her hands as she crashed into one of the back pillars, nearly bringing the balcony crumbling down on top of her. She felt her head spinning, and she could barely hear what was happening. Seconds later, a body flew into her— Klaus. He was unconscious beside her, having bashed his head directly against the pillar. </p><p>“You,” said Dahlia. Hilda could just hear her footsteps moving closer. “Husband of my sister.” She was speaking to Mikael. “You, I would like to make suffer.”</p><p>Hilda heard a loud gasp from Mikael, but before Dahlia could do anything else, a familiar voice cried, “ENOUGH!”</p><p>The Original’s blood quite nearly ran cold. Why was Freya here? She was in danger if she got too close to Dahlia. </p><p>The elder witch seemed to have focused her attention on her eldest niece. “My Freya. You do realize that this so-called family of yours is simply using you for your power?”</p><p>“No!” spat Freya. “You’re the one that used me for a thousand years. No more!”</p><p>Dahlia immediately retaliated. “So be it!” She slashed her hand in the air, and Freya began to gasp, trying to draw breath as her body rose. The blonde clutched at her throat. Hilda, thinking perhaps she had recovered enough, sped in her direction, but Dahlia very easily flicked her other hand, and Hilda cried out in pain, holding at her chest as her heart started to be torn out. </p><p>“NOOO!” yelled Mikael, suddenly speeding up and stabbing Dahlia in the abdomen with a piece of wood, dropping the spell and making both Freya and Hilda collapse on the floor, whimpering in pain. “STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTERS!”</p><p>Hilda thought she must be hallucinating. <em>Had he actually said that? </em>She couldn’t ponder on it, because with ease, Dahlia sent Mikael’s body flying back across the room, pulling the stake out of herself. The Original turned to see Elijah beside a now-conscious Klaus. </p><p>They all looked up at Dahlia, who was furious. “Don’t you know I’m too powerful to kill?” She said, tossing the stake aside. Elijah sped in her direction, but was thrown backward, landing beside Klaus. The hybrid used all his speed to pick up the enchanted blade and jump at Dahlia. For a moment, it looked like he was going to succeed in stabbing her.</p><p>Instead, she vanished, and Klaus crashed into the sacristy, shattering it to pieces. As he got up, he found the knife was no longer in front of him. They all whipped their heads back to the end of the aisle, where Dahlia was holding the blade.</p><p>“We all have weaknesses,” she said softly, as if taunting them. She vanished once again, appearing closer to where Mikael, Hilda, and Freya were. “You came here to exploit mine. And, in doing so, you lost the one thing you could have used against me. The weapon you created… now rendered <em>useless</em>.”</p><p>She let the knife fall into a basin of holy water, which set it aflame immediately. “NO!” cried Freya in devastation as Dahlia wove her hand to put out the fire.</p><p>“Now that we’ve disposed of that little trinket,” said the witch, “perhaps we can focus on the issue at hand? After all, I seek only that which is owed to me, nothing more. Give me the child, and you <em>all</em> may live. Deny me, and, well... you've had a taste of my power. I can't imagine you hunger for more.”</p><p>This time, when she disappeared, she did not show her face again. Looking defeated, the four siblings and Mikael shared a series of very disappointed and angry looks.</p><p>“Father,” said Freya, limping up and going to Mikael’s side. She looked back over her shoulder. “Shall we return to the Compound?”</p><p>Klaus did not look eager to speak, and simply nodded. The three Originals sped away, with Mikael and Freya following behind.</p><p>Rebekah was awaiting them, and Klaus launched himself into relaying the story, trying to pretend he wasn’t crushed as he drank some scotch. Hilda stood off to the side listening, holding an entire bottle of bourbon. She was staring at Mikael, who seemed more gentle than ever now that he was in Freya’s presence.</p><p>Hilda wondered what it might’ve been like to have him be a good father for longer than he was. She remembered how when she and Kol were very small, Mikael used to bounce them on his knees and tell them stories about great battles. He used to laugh when Hilda would try to hold his sword eagerly, when she had barely learned to walk. When they trained, at first, he was so proud of them. Hilda would bring him flowers and vines and he’d wrap them on the hilt of his sword for ‘good luck.’ Once, Hilda had a dream that she was a warrior and had to protect her siblings from a dragon. Mikael had laughed and told her the story of how he chose her name, and how he predicted she would become a fantastic warrior, indeed.</p><p>That had all changed very quickly when the twins started hesitating to accept the abusive training, and when they had strayed to learn witchcraft. </p><p>“Well, that sounds like a bloody fiasco,” said Rebekah. Mikael was staring at her strangely, as though he still hadn’t figured out who she was. “Where’s Dahlia now?”</p><p>“She could be anywhere,” said Elijah in a defeated voice. “There wasn’t a trace of her left in the church.”</p><p>Freya had a bitter look on her face. “She's done with us for the night. No doubt, she wants us to take some time to wallow in our defeat.”</p><p>Klaus took a careful sip of his scotch. “Defeat? I disagree. We saw her face, we took her measure. If that's the best she's got, quite frankly, I'm unimpressed.”</p><p>Mikael sneered. “Her aim was not to impress us. She wanted us to reveal our sole weapon, and like <em>fools</em>, we did.”</p><p>Rebekah cast the two an incredulous look. “Am I hearing things, or did our brother just exchange words with our father?”</p><p>Mikael smiled knowingly. “Rebekah. I'd know that wicked tongue anywhere. What mischief have you gotten yourself into now? No doubt the bastard's doing.”</p><p>Hilda growled. “Enough,” she said sourly. “We’ll plan better, for next time. Shall I suggest we all go and rest? I don’t want to be down here anymore.”</p><p>“I very much agree,” said the hybrid. “My patience, like this farce of a reunion, is at an end.”</p><p>Elijah scowled in agreement with both of his siblings. “There is only one question here— what exactly are we doing?”</p><p>“This was not my plan!” Freya exclaimed. “ou rushed it and made but a <em>single</em> weapon! Of <em>course</em> she took it from you. And now, we've lost what advantage we had and used up the very materials we needed to kill her.”</p><p>“It’s a bit histrionic,” Klaus mused. “Your materials are easily found. Let's take stock, shall we? There's an ample supply of your blood, Norwegian soil is hardly scarce... what else? Ah, yes— the ashes of Dahlia's Viking oppressors.”</p><p>This had annoyed Mikael, and he glared at Klaus. “Only priceless relics gotten with great difficulty at a museum. Lost due to your <em>worthless </em>strategy!”</p><p>“We didn’t know what she was going to bloody do, at least we know now!” snarled Hilda. “This isn’t Niklaus’s fault so don’t get all rude, we don’t need your stupid attitude right now.”</p><p>Mikael snorted. “Let us not forget that you were completely incompetend as well. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you weren’t my child, either. You’re just as much of a wretched embarrassment as the bastard.”</p><p>Klaus’s eyes flashed amber and he sped to Mikael, pinning him to the wall and bringing out the White Oak stake in a flash, pressing its tip into his chest. Freya lunged forward with a cry, but Elijah held her back.</p><p>“If I feel even the faintest touch of your magic, Freya, I will end him with a flick of my wrist!” Klaus threatened. He stared at Mikael, who didn’t try to fight back. “You don’t seem surprised.”</p><p>“Betrayal is in your nature, boy,” Mikael sneered.</p><p>“No,” snapped Klaus. “I wasn’t born like this. Her, you fight for, lovely Freya, the daughter you <em>barely</em> know. But there was a time where you knew me as your <em>son!</em> A time before all the disappointments, the revelations of betrayal.” His eyes filled with tears, and he began to cry. “There were moments where all you had to do was be my father! And even then, you despised me, didn't you? I want to know why.”</p><p>Mikael was clearly shocked at Klaus’s statement, so full of vulnerability that even he was shaken. “I don’t know,” said Mikael with unnatural softness. “I just… did.”</p><p>Hilda could feel the hurt radiating off of Klaus. She felt her own eyes become teary, a painful pit forming in her stomach. The hybrid stared at Mikael, his lip twitching as he ceased his crying. “Are those your final words?” he said lowly.</p><p>Mikael hesitated before looking back over Klaus’s shoulder at Freya, who was still struggling against Elijah. “Freya,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. I love y—”</p><p>He didn’t get to finish as Klaus plunged the stake into Mikael’s heart, making him yell out in agony as Freya screamed and cried, unable to stop it from happening. Elijah and Rebekah looked almost pained at the sight of Mikael falling onto his knees and keeling over as he began to desiccate and eventually burst into flame.</p><p>But it seemed that Hilda and Klaus were filled with what could have almost been described as mirth.</p><p>Freya began to sob uncontrollably as she thrashed weakly in Elijah’s hold. </p><p>Klaus looked up at his siblings. “Viking ash is indeed rare. All you really need is a burning Viking corpse.”</p><p>He stormed off into another room, and Freya quite nearly managed to attack him, but Rebekah was able to help her brother hold her back.</p><p>Hilda set her bottle of bourbon back onto the counter and made to follow her half-brother. She found him in Hope’s room, which was empty, since Hayley and Jackson were taking care of her somewhere safer— in Algiers. He leaned onto the bars of the crib, staring at the space where his sleeping daughter might have been.</p><p>“Nik,” whispered Hilda, coming closer. </p><p>“Go away,” he muttered. “Forget, for an instant, that I am your brother and… leave.”</p><p>“What if I don’t want to leave?” She stepped up beside him. “You’re hurt, and you don’t want to show it. I’m hurt, too.”</p><p>Klaus blinked away more tears. “I do not wish to discuss this.”</p><p>“Then we don’t have to talk.”</p><p>“Why do you insist on helping me?” he demanded. “We don’t have the same father. You don’t need to pretend you don’t harbor a great deal of animosity towards me.”</p><p>Hilda sighed. “I can set that aside, Nik. We’re obviously both hurting, even if we would never dare to admit it to our brother and sisters…”</p><p>Klaus tightened his knuckle around the edge of the crib. “All he had to do was be our father,” he said shakily. “He just… he just had to appreciate us. The others do not understand… Mikael never struck Rebekah. He was kinder to Elijah. But that man... He abused you. Kol. Me. I continue to wonder what kind of man I might’ve been, had I been raised by my real father. I shall never know… because I… I k-killed him…”</p><p>Wordlessly, Hilda pulled him into a hug, and he did not pull away.</p><p>“You are the only one who even slightly understands,” said Klaus, his voice muffled against her shoulder. “And yet I treat you so poorly…”</p><p>“We’re still family,” she said quietly. “I’d very much prefer for you to be more respectful. But I… I get it. Our tempers always get in the way. We clash so much. I want us to get along, Nik. I want to be part of your daughter’s life.”</p><p>Klaus gulped and pulled away, grabbing her face. “I’m sorry,” he said, so quietly she barely heard him. “I’m sorry, Hilly… I’m sorry.”</p><p>Her eyes shone with tears as she pulled him back in for another hug, rubbing his back as soothingly as she could. </p><p>She didn’t move away until he reassured her for the third time that he was fine, and that she ought to get some sleep. She helped take him to his room and tucked him in once he got his shoes off, then set back to her room. She drew herself a warm bath with some epsom salt and sank in, having her phone project some songs quietly for her to listen to.</p><p>Halfway through a particularly soft melody that made her tear up, the music stopped and she saw an incoming call from Damon.</p><p>“Mm, is someone dying?” she inquired lazily.</p><p>“It’s Ric, sorry, my phone is dead and Damon was more than happy to lend me his. How are you doing?”</p><p>Hilda sighed. “I’m doing alright. Damn, I was really excited thinking that Damon Salvatore called me while I was in the bathtub.”</p><p>Alaric started to laugh. “Sorry to disappoint. What’s been happening?”</p><p>“Well… Klaus just killed Mikael, and we um, cried together for a bit. I’m feeling better, so I don’t really want to talk about it but what I will say is that I hope that you know what kind of father you ought to be now. You have such an immense potential to be far better than Mikael ever was. Your child deserves that.”</p><p>“Yeah, of course. I’m not going to be like our dads who were distant. I want to be good for my kid. Jo’s already going to be an amazing mom but I just… worry that I might slip up.”</p><p>“You’ve never really told me about your dad.”</p><p>“Well… what can I say… we weren’t pals, even though I was an only child. My mom and I weren’t close either. They let me do anything I wanted. They were always working. My dad didn’t really like spending time with me. We lived in Boston and there was always something better for him to do. He loved to go to the Red Sox games even though they hadn’t won since, like, 1918. When I tried to tell him things, he didn’t care. Eventually, I just left and I don’t visit them anymore, even though nowadays they claim to want to see me. I haven’t even told them about the baby or Jo and definitely not about the wedding. They couldn’t be there for me for so long… I’d rather just stick with the family I’ve made here.”</p><p>Hilda let out a sigh. “Dads are just sucky most times. Look at poor Jo, her dad tried to kill her to make sure she and Kai wouldn’t be able to Merge. Now he’s trapped, but still… that’s just messed up. If I ever see Joshua Parker, I’m going to punch him right in the face.”</p><p>“I think Jo and I both support that but can it wait until after the wedding? Let’s at least let the guy show his stupid face while it’s intact. Can’t imagine how ruined it’ll be when you’re done with him.”</p><p>Hilda leaned back in the tub, letting the bubbles come closer to her chin. “Are you happy?” she asked softly. “Are things going well with the two of you?”</p><p>“Yeah. I’m really… really happy. I’ve still got time to learn to be a good dad so I’m going to do everything I can to be ready. I already signed up for some classes in the summer for first time dads since we don’t need a birthing class— Jo’s got a Medical Degree to account for that. I’m looking for other jobs, too.”</p><p>“Oh? Are you not intending to… be a Professor anymore?”</p><p>“We’re um, actually thinking of leaving Mystic Falls. Jo wants to leave the country altogether… leave the Gemini Coven behind. I support that. They’ll want our baby to be a part of that and we don’t like the idea of it, so… we’re just going to see where life takes us.”</p><p>Hilda swallowed a lump in her throat. “As long as you give me an address to visit you,” she said calmly, trying to pretend this wasn’t burning a metaphorical hole in her heart. “So I can send the little one some nice presents. I bet Damon’s gonna miss having you around, he won’t be able to tease and be a rowdy uncle very often, but I suppose he’ll live.”</p><p>“Oh, for sure, Damon’s going to lose his mind when he finds out, but I’ll talk to him. Maybe the others might follow suit, just to a different place. A fresh start might be what all of us need.”</p><p>Hilda nodded to herself, and swallowed back newly forming tears. “I’ll talk to you later, alright?” she said steadily. “I think I might turn into a mermaid if I stay under the water much longer, I can practically feel my legs fusing together.”</p><p>Alaric chuckled, suspecting nothing. “Talk to you later, Hilda. Take care.”</p><p>She hung up quickly and resisted the urge to toss her phone across the bathroom. It likely would have shattered against the wall. She covered her face and let out a frustrated growl. “Pull yourself together,” she muttered. “Stop being jealous. It’s been far too long. He’s got a fiancée and a baby on the way and you’re only going to be the cool aunt who sometimes visits.”</p><p>But deep down, she wished she could be Jo.</p>
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<a name="section0041"><h2>41. Chapter 41</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>It was very easy for Hilda and Klaus to reach their chaotic and mischievous duo potential.</strong>
</p><p>Klaus had figured out very quickly the next morning when Hilda came down earlier than usual that something was bothering her. With a snap of his fingers, he had the servants make them two mimosas, and soon, they began to chat, scheming amongst themselves as pastries flowed in from the kitchen, much to Elijah’s dismay.</p><p>“What, pray tell, is happening here?” he asked sharply when he saw Klaus and Hilda had very abruptly shut up, with two identically wicked looks on their faces.</p><p>“Nothing at all, brother, just a family breakfast,” said Klaus casually, holding up his glass. “Can I fix you a drink, perhaps?”</p><p>Elijah rolled his eyes. “Strangely enough, Niklaus, I’m not in a mimosa mood.”</p><p>“Perfect!” chirped Hilda. “More for us, then.” She and Klaus raised their glasses before downing what remained.</p><p>Elijah leaned onto the chair beside his sister. “Let’s discuss strategy, shall we? Just wondering if you actually have one.”</p><p>Hilda made a ‘pfft’ sound. “You’re ruining a perfectly good breakfast, ‘Lijah. We haven’t even gotten to feed yet!” She waved over one of the servants. “Come here, darling… that’s it.” She took her wrist and began to feed, letting a few drops fall into her mimosa.</p><p>Klaus snickered at Elijah’s annoyed look. “Let’s begin with Mikael’s ashes,” he continued, ignoring Hilda. “Given that they are the main ingredient in our weapon against Dahlia, would you care to tell me where they disappeared to?”</p><p>Hilda and Klaus shared another mischievous look. Klaus had told Hilda, and she had thought it brilliant, agreeing to keep it a secret. </p><p>“Elijah!” said Klaus with a fake smile, setting his drink down. “I have compelled the city's <em>finest</em> pastry chef for your own personal edification, and yet, you ignore my efforts in favor of needless concerns!”</p><p>At this, Rebekah entered the room, groaning and holding her head. “Can we stop talking so loudly? Give me that, Hilly.” She pointed at the pot of coffee beside her sister. </p><p>Hilda scrunched up her nose before passing it to her. “New body not so tolerant to alcohol, is it? Last night’s bender certainly took a toll on you.”</p><p>“So?” said Rebekah, serving herself some coffee before going to sit beside Klaus. “I had a few. It’s not every day you lose your father at the hands of your brother. <em>Again</em>.”</p><p>Klaus laughed heartily. “Whoever said opportunity only knocks once, eh?”</p><p>Hilda giggled. “It’s just a shame I missed it the first time. The encore would have been <em>spectacular</em>.”</p><p>Rebekah and Elijah were not amused. “Oh, come on!” cried Klaus. “We all fled Mikael's tyranny together for centuries! I would have thought the mood this morning might be a bit more jubilant!”</p><p>“Under normal circumstances,” replied Elijah, “the annihilation of our father would be rather commendable, Niklaus. <em>Unfortunately</em>, we have a greater threat to contend with.”</p><p>Klaus got up to pour himself another drink. “You know, for someone who's been invited to a celebratory breakfast, you're proving <em>quite</em> the buzzkill. Hilly and I were having a <em>marvelous</em> time before you showed up.”</p><p>Elijah sighed deeply. “Well, Niklaus, if anything indeed has killed the—” he made air quotes, “‘buzz,’ as you say, perhaps it was because murdering Father alienated the one person who truly knows how to defeat Dahlia.”</p><p>“Hold on,” said Hilda sharply. “Freya saw my memories. She knows how bad Mikael treated us. She was trying to be nice to him but deep down she knew he was a monster. She sought us out for several years and she knows we’re not perfect people. Perhaps she will never forgive us for it but it still benefits her to help us.”</p><p>“Precisely!” agreed Klaus, delighted to hear that she shared the same opinion as him. “If Freya wants to be part of this family, she should be willing to accept us, warts and all!”</p><p>“Elijah’s right,” said Rebekah distastefully. “Freya loved Mikael, and you’ve likely ruined everything.”</p><p>Klaus and Hilda shared a look. “Pity,” said the hybrid, pretending to be sad. “Whatever shall I do?”</p><p>Elijah had had enough. “Whatever you please, apparently!”</p><p>Klaus slammed his hands on the table. “Do not mistake my high spirits for lack of clarity! I know full well the threat we face. And, I intend to deal with it— personally.” He then tensed, listening as though something perked up his senses. “Someone’s here,” he murmured.</p><p>He sped into the courtyard, followed by Elijah, Hilda, and Rebekah. They found the familiar Josephine La Rue standing there, with a velvet choker on her neck and an almost wistful expression on her face.</p><p>“Josephine,” said Elijah, confused. </p><p>The elderly witch smiled at them. “Forgive me for calling so early, Elijah, but, I've come bearing a message from your aunt Dahlia.”</p><p>The siblings went rigid as Josephine continued, “She is owed a debt and she means to be paid.”</p><p>“She can writhe in Hell first,” said Klaus without hesitation.</p><p>“For merely taking what your mother promised her?” inquired Josephine, unperturbed. “If you must harbor hatred, isn't it better spent on the one who traded your child away a thousand years ago? Blame Esther, if you must, but I seek <em>only</em> to fulfill a bargain. A bargain that, consequently, resulted in your very existence. Perhaps you should be thanking me?”</p><p>Hilda was the first to realize. “You’re not Josephine,” she murmured. “You’re Dahlia.”</p><p>The woman grinned. “My child— I prefer <em>Aunt Dahlia</em>.”</p><p>Klaus growled and stepped in front of her. “You dare enter my home?”</p><p>“I only came for what is mine,” said the woman calmly, as blood started leaking from her neck, a wound seemingly concealed beneath her choker. “The time has come to add the child's power to my own. Though, I do not detect her here. I see you've used a spell to cloak her. No matter— such spells will yield, as will you. Say your farewells. You have 'til nightfall tomorrow, and then the child <em>shall be mine.</em> Be a dear and inform the mother? No reason we can't be civilized about this.”</p><p>Klaus smirked, swiping his head out fiercely and sending Josephine’s head flying off to the side. Rebekah let out a slightly strangled noise, but Hilda sneered.</p><p>“Well then,” she said darkly. “Shall I go gossip to Freya and see if she wants to pitch in?”</p><p>“Oh, alright,” sighed Rebekah, putting her hands on her hips. “But I’m coming with you, I think she might like it better if we’re both there.”</p><p>“Fine by me,” said Hilda. </p><p>They found their eldest sister at the Lafayette Cemetery, using large stones, a bowl of crystals, and some deer antlers with Nordic runes on them to commemorate Mikael. She looked up as her younger sisters came up beside her.</p><p>“Freya?” said Rebekah gently. “I am so, so, sorry. And—” she nudged Hilda hard in the ribs. “Hilly is sorry, too.”</p><p>Hilda wanted to say <em>‘no, the bloody fuck I’m not,’</em> but she refrained from it, shooting Freya a tight-lipped smile. “Sorry, Freya.”</p><p>“About what?” said the kneeling woman, staring sadly at the memorial. “About what? Certainly not about our father. I alone mourn him, as I alone loved him. And now, because of Klaus, my father is taken from me once more.”</p><p>Rebekah moved down beside her. “I never knew the man you're mourning. He showed more tenderness to you yesterday than we have ever seen. All I can recall is his terrible temper, his awful cruelty. <em>Especially</em> to Klaus.”</p><p>Freya sighed. “That is not an excuse.”</p><p>“Isn’t it?” said Hilda, crossing her arms. “Klaus can be quite infuriating, and so can I. But I promise you, sister, we will fight like Hell against Dahlia. And by fighting, we mean with you. Klaus wants to keep Hope safe as much as you want your freedom. Rebekah, Elijah, and I support both those things. I normally hate collaboration but I must say, we need to work together this time.”</p><p>Freya looked aggravated. “How can you defend him?” she said coldly. “I was abducted by Dahlia, spent years under her control, and yet he acts as if I am the enemy! I have given you all every reason to trust me, and still, Klaus rejects me. And honestly? I cannot understand why you would continue to trust him.”</p><p>Hilda opened her mouth to explain, but Freya was done listening, and got up, brushing past them. “You both, and Elijah, have a choice,” she said coldly. “From now on, it’s either Klaus, or me.”</p><p>Rebekah seemed to find this the hardest choice in the world. “What?” she said incredulously. “I’m to choose between the brother I’ve known for a thousand years and the sister I’ve always wanted.”</p><p>Hilda pretended that she wasn’t offended. But really, she understood it. Hilda was definitely not the perfect older sister to Rebekah. Really, she had been a much better sister to Henrik. The closeness between Rebekah and the twins had always left them at odds with each other. </p><p>“Well, let’s see,” said Hilda, musing out loud. “Nik has daggered both of us for long periods of time simply because we wanted freedom. Freya, we’ve known for a very short time. She is our sister and she has suffered and she is kind and sweet… which makes this more conflicting because this is wrong. If she were truly kind and sweet, she wouldn’t be forcing us to choose between siblings. I have to admire her gall, though, I never thought to do something like that… likely because I knew you and Elijah would pick Niklaus.”</p><p>Rebekah held her temples, too overwhelmed to answer. “I must go speak to Marcel,” she said before dashing off.</p><p>The older Original had half a mind to snort and burst out laughing. She didn’t want to make this a big deal by going to speak to anyone, but she felt she ought to talk to someone, too.</p><p>She subconsciously dialed Damon’s number.</p><p>She wasn’t sure why Damon was the first person that came to mind. Maybe because Alaric had no siblings and couldn’t really relate. Maybe because she knew Damon and Stefan hadn’t always been best of friends. Perhaps she wanted to hear some sarcasm before she made her decision.</p><p>A loud gasp from the other line let her know that Damon had picked up. “The world must be ending,” he said dramatically. “<em>The</em> Hilda Mikaelson is calling me? Mm, Ric told me all about you wishing it was really me yesterday when you were in the bath. Don’t tell me you have a crush on me.”</p><p>“Don’t be stupid, you have a girlfriend who looks exactly like <em>two</em> of Elijah’s exes— I want to leave that poor girl’s relationship in peace for once.”</p><p>“Ah, doesn’t stop you from craving being a homewrecked for Alaric and Jo.”</p><p>“Excuse you, I am not being a homewrecker. I’ve kept everything to myself.”</p><p>“I know, Hilly Billy, just teasing you. Have you come to report some hanky-panky instances?”</p><p>“No. Having a bit of a sibling dilemma, I’m almost entirely certain that Alaric’s told you everything that’s been going on in my life.”</p><p>“Eh, not necessarily. I just happen to be present half the time he’s making phone calls. They should make a show— <em>Keeping Up With The Mikaelsons</em>.”</p><p>Hilda laughed lightly. “Yes, perhaps. My sister Freya appears to have given me an ultimatum.”</p><p>Damon gasped. “<em>Oh, no!</em> Did she give you the Mikaelson version of the Trolley Problem?”</p><p>“I dunno if this qualifies as that, but she said Rebekah, Elijah, and I need to choose between her and Klaus.”</p><p>“Damn, so do you go with the big sister you always got compared to, who can do some cool magic and has knowledge of that big bad auntie of yours, or do you choose the hybrid brother who causes a problem wherever he goes and continuously makes you feel suppressed?”</p><p>“Well, when you put it like that, you make the choice sound quite easy.”</p><p>“Please, no one in their right mind would choose Klaus.”</p><p>“Think of this hypothetical situation, Damon,” said Hilda. “Say that… Alaric and Stefan are both your brothers. Stefan is like… Bonnie, and he knows the key to take down the hypothetical enemy. Let’s say… Esther. Then, Alaric is like how he was when my mother turned him into an Original, with the weird alter ago. You care about both of them and their well being. You’ve known Alaric longer, in this hypothetical situation, and you’ve had your ups and downs, but in the end, he and Stefan are both your brothers.”</p><p>“Hang on. First of all, why is she making you choose? I don’t get it. If she wants to defeat that witch as much as you do, why is she casting Klaus off as an ally. What did he even do?”</p><p>“He killed Mikael.”</p><p>“Um, <em>good fucking riddance?</em> Is Freya a nutcase? Why is she mad about that?”</p><p>Hilda smirked. “No, I don’t think she is. She’s just hurt because she didn’t really get a chance to spend time with Mikael. He adored her, he never would have been abusive toward her. She’ll understand, eventually, but in the meantime, she’s furious with Nik.”</p><p>“If I were Freya, I wouldn’t give a flying fuck about Mikael. Ultimately, though, Hilly Billy, it’s your choice. Personally… I don’t know. I’d want to side with both Stefan and Alaric. Choosing sides doesn’t sound smart. And knowing Klaus, he’ll lose his mind if he finds out you all picked Freya. He’ll dagger all of you. So I guess the question to ask yourself is really, are you more scared of how Klaus will react if you pick Freya, or are you more scared of how Freya will react if you pick Klaus?”</p><p>That question certainly left Hilda stumped. “I want to say I’m more scared of how Klaus will react… but if I help Freya, Hope will still be safe, because Dahlia will be defeated. But the thing is, I know Freya has his temper, too, and she has magic. She might never speak to me again. Which, I guess, might not be the worst thing, but I really do want to get to know her…”</p><p>Damon let out a deep breath. “Here’s a plan— be a double agent. Help both of them, who cares?”</p><p>“That’s… that’s a plan, alright. Technically, we ought to be working together, anyway.”</p><p>“There you go! Already one step closer to defeating that bitch. Jeez, and I thought your mama was terrible, this sounds worse.”</p><p>“Certainly. Dahlia seems to have come straight from Hell.”</p><p>There was a scuffling sound, and Hilda frowned, holding the phone to her ear, confused. “Is that from your end?” she asked.</p><p>“Yep,” said Damon casually. “I had to get to my room, Ric’s here. I assumed you don’t feel like talking to him, otherwise you would have called him.”</p><p>“You know me well,” she said, impressed. “Thanks for this. I’ll talk to you another time.”</p><p>“Sure thing, Hilly Billy. Good luck kicking witch ass.”</p><p>She felt significantly better after that.</p><p>She roamed around town for a bit, not exactly knowing what she ought to be doing. She debated texting Klaus and asking for instructions, but decided she’d just wait patiently and see where she was needed. </p><p>Sure enough, Elijah called once there was a problem. “Dahlia found Hayley and Hope,” he said urgently. “Get to the St. James Infirmary in Algiers.”</p><p>Rather than answering, she sped off, and hung up the call right as she walked through the entrance, finding Elijah already with Hayley. He held his phone up to call his brother next, and within seconds, he was right beside Hilda.</p><p>“So, what the bloody hell happened?” demanded Hilda. “What happened to the wolves that were guarding?”</p><p>“They got their asses handed to them by Dahlia, just like Klaus did,” said Hayley irritably.</p><p>Klaus growled. “That’s it— you’re coming with me to the Compound.”</p><p>“Where Dahlia sent Josephine this morning?” exclaimed Hayley. “No way! We'd be sitting ducks, just like we will be <em>here</em> as soon as that spell breaks.” She sighed, before saying, “Which is why we have to go.”</p><p>The three siblings shared a concerned look as Hayley continued, “Jackson is out getting supplies, and then we're taking the wolves and we're headed to the Bayou.”</p><p>“The swamp?” Klaus said angrily. “So my child can be protected by the very wolves Dahlia so easily defeated? Absolutely not!”</p><p>Hayley stepped forward, getting in Klaus’s face. “You know, I am <em>so</em> over taking advice from you, Klaus. All it has done so far is put Hope in danger. From now on, I am going to do what I want to do. We're leaving.” She made to brush past him, but he caught her.</p><p>“You’re not going anywhere unless I tell you to!” he said coldly.</p><p>Hilda immediately stopped him from holding onto her. “Hey, let her go,” she said sternly.</p><p>Hayley cast her a grateful look before glaring furiously at the Original hybrid. “I am not your prisoner, Klaus!”</p><p>Elijah held his hands up. “Both of you, please— we’re playing into Dahlia’s hands.”</p><p>Klaus scoffed. “<em>Not</em> doing as I say plays into her hands! While you three have been kow-towing to Freya and devising ways to flee with your tail between your legs, <em>I've</em> been forging a new path. I know what Freya was planning, and I know how to kill Dahlia.”</p><p>Hilda raised her eyebrows. “Oh? Do tell.”</p><p>Klaus started to explain. “The magical logistics will need to be checked by you, Hilly, but think— Freya objected to us making a single weapon because it spoiled her plan. Therefore—”</p><p>“KLAUS!”</p><p>They all turned, hearing the familiar voice of Jackson Kenner.</p><p>“Jack?” said Hayley in disbelief as Jackson yelled out again, appearing in the doorway with some of his werewolves, carrying a dead body. “Oh my God!”</p><p>The wolves set down the familiar body of Aiden, which made Hilda let out a gasp, her stomach lurching uncomfortably. He had claw marks on his cheek, and his heart had been torn out. </p><p>“What happened?” cried Hayley, rushing to investigate.</p><p>“Klaus made Aiden spy on us,” said Jackson vindictively. “Instead, he told me everything.” He cast Klaus a mutinous look. “So you killed him!”</p><p>Hilda couldn’t believe this could possibly be true. The way Klaus looked so shocked… either he hadn’t done this, and this was news to him, or he had done it and had taken preventative measures to not be caught.</p><p>Hayley looked severely betrayed as she faced Klaus. “You killed one of the wolves sworn to protect our daughter?” Her voice shook, and her eyes welled up with tears. </p><p>Hilda wasn’t expecting the words that came out of her brother’s mouth after a tense moment of the wolves glaring at him. “So what if I did?” he said venomously, pointing at Aiden’s body. “This is what happens to anyone who dares cross me!”</p><p>One of the wolves behind the Alpha growled. “Just give us the word, Jackson…”</p><p>“Yes!” challenged Klaus, spreading his arms. “Come and have a go! But you'll be putting your life on the line for one who is all too willing to betray you. Perhaps this never would have happened if he'd had a <em>real</em> Alpha.”</p><p>Jackson leapt forward, punching Klaus right in the face. Immediately, the hybrid knocked him back, and the wolves jumped to defend their leader, but Hayley got between them, meaning that Klaus’s hit landed her in the stomach, throwing her aside. Elijah and Hilda both jumped in front of their brother, and Hilda caught Jackson’s fist before he could hit Elijah, her eyes flashing darkly.</p><p>“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she sneered.</p><p>Elijah glared at the Alpha and his wolves. “Do you wish to die?” he told them lowly.</p><p>At this, Hayley leapt back up and shoved Elijah back. “You want to kill me, too, Elijah?”</p><p>“That’s not what he meant, and you all know it,” said Hilda defensively. “We’re not looking for a fight. But if you attack, we <em>will</em> retaliate, and you all ought to know better than to trigger <em>me</em>.”</p><p>Elijah nodded in agreement. “If you come at him, you come at the both of us, as well.”</p><p>Klaus looked absolutely delighted with this outcome. “You lost should make better use of your time,” he told them mockingly. “I suggest burying your dead.”</p><p>“GET OUT!” screamed Hayley.</p><p>Klaus made to retort, but Hilda whirled around, holding his throat menacingly. “Don’t you dare,” she snapped. “Don’t say anything else. You mentioned a plan, so get on with it.”</p><p>The hybrid still looked quite smug as he faced the wolves. “Shan’t be long.” He sped away, and Hayley let out a frustrated growl. </p><p>“How can you defend him?” said Hayley angrily, staring directly at Hilda.</p><p>“Because I know my brother, darling,” she said, turning around and leaning over Aiden’s body. “This wasn’t him.”</p><p>“What the hell do you mean?” said Jackson. “Heart ripped out— claws— who else would have had it in for Aiden?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Hilda admitted. “But my brother has yet to transform into a wolf and actually roam around. Elijah told me he transformed when his curse was first broken, but he has only ever channeled his hybrid strength. He’s never brought out the claws the way Hayley has. The hearts— that’s a thing any vampire will do. But the claws… I highly doubt this was Klaus.” She looked up at Elijah. “Did you not see how shocked he looked? He didn’t know. He didn’t intend to ever kill Aiden, I’m sure of it.”</p><p>Hayley and Jackson were not inclined to believe her. How could they, with such a tremendous loss? Hilda knew that Jackson had just lost his other best friend. Awhile back, he lost Oliver, and now Aiden. The Original couldn’t imagine how Josh was feeling at the moment…</p><p>Knowing she needed to inform her sister, Hilda walked off to the side to call Rebekah, letting her know what’d happened before turning and finding Elijah and Hayley immersed in conversation, with Jackson and the wolves sitting off to the side, looking distraught. Deciding she ought not stay any longer, she made her way out. </p><p>She hadn’t yet arrived to the Compound when she heard an eerily familiar tune behind her, as if being emitted from the inside of one of the stores. She stopped, and turned, seeing no one. When she faced the front again, Dahlia was right in front of her.</p><p>“Hilda,” said the witch simply, hands tucked in her pockets. “Just the niece I wanted to see.”</p>
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<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Chapter 42</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda stepped back uncertainly, only to collide with something. </strong>
</p><p>When she whipped around, Dahlia was behind her. “No need to run, my child,” she said calmly. “I simply want to say a few things.”</p><p>“Whatever you say isn’t going to keep me from tearing you limb from limb,” Hilda snarled immediately.</p><p>Dahlia chuckled. “You have that same fire as that man who fathered you. I hear you and your twin brother… Kol, is it? Ran with witches since you were turned.”</p><p>“Are we here to pretend our family is normal, and this is a casual meeting at a supermarket?” said Hilda irritably. “What do you want?”</p><p>“My dear, is talking really so wrong? Walk with me.” Dahlia did not wait for her, and began to move down the street. Hilda could have easily sped away, but she was too curious. Besides, if there was a way she could subdue her… Dahlia may not be able to die, but even when Klaus had snapped Freya’s neck, it took awhile for her to return.</p><p>“I wouldn’t try that, if I were you,” said the older witch. “I can just as easily snap yours.”</p><p>Hilda made a face, and started to walk with her. She thought of the most disgusting scene she could think of— a cluster of headless bodies created by she and Kol when they were angered by some villagers. Dahlia made no comment. Had she decided not to see into Hilda’s mind? Or perhaps, she couldn’t actually see into her mind, and had only assumed what Hilda had been thinking.</p><p>The Original walked behind her aunt, before finally reaching her side. Dahlia kept her hands tucked in her pockets, and stared forward as though she was seeing something that Hilda could not. “You were a powerful witch,” said Dahlia. “I know very well that you and your brother were prodigies. You more than him. You were born first. The second-born Mikaelson female. The middle of three sisters born to mine. Had you a proper chance to hone into that power… had you not lost it… you could have been great. But never as great as Freya or Hope. Firstborns are just a tad more powerful. I am superior to Esther. Freya is superior to you and the rest of your siblings. Hope, more so. A rare breed, that child. She needs to be trained.”</p><p>“Not by you,” said Hilda scathingly. “Freya and I can train her just fine.”</p><p>“Neither you nor Freya will know well how to deal with a witch that powerful.”</p><p>“And you will? You and I aren’t too different, from what I hear, Dahlia. Not a maternal bone in our bodies.”</p><p>Dahlia chuckled. “That, is a lie. A blatant lie. You know as well as I do that you possess several maternal bones. Otherwise, you would not fight to protect your niece. But you are correct in saying we are not so different. We want the best for that child, do we not? Hope will be prone to the temper that you and your two brothers exhibit more often than anyone. Why, Freya was bad enough, in her teen years. Can you imagine what that child will amount to? That rage stemming from her wolf nature. The prickling at her fingertips from all the magic coursing through her veins. Strength like no other due to her vampiric side. She will bring chaos to any place she calls home. She will have difficulty making friends. She will rise above all witches and wolves and be hated. Do you want that for her?”</p><p>“I want her to be safe and healthy,” Hilda murmured. “Which won’t happen if you take her. She deserves freedom, not slavery. She’s an innocent child. Freya made it quite clear how you ruined her. I don’t want that for my niece. It was bad enough for us with a father like Mikael. Hope must remain with us.”</p><p>Dahlia raised her slender fingers, examining them as though they were more interesting than what Hilda was saying. “You and Kol were a handful for Esther,” she continued, acting like she hadn’t heard her. “You were both good pupils, but easily angered. My sister was not equipped to teach twins. There is a special thing, in twins. This… excess of power appears. And it often manifests, either in both twins or in one… as mental illness. From what I hear, you both suffer in that manner. This pattern does not only appear in our line. Do you understand?”</p><p>Hilda did understand. She had known several witch twins in the past, and more often than not, one or both of the twins were excessively violent. Kai and Jo, for example. The more violent twin was always treated worse, and their behavior became more destructive. </p><p>“Had you both come to be raised by me,” said Dahlia, “you’d be immortal witches, bearing the same faces you do. You would have learned how to properly channel that power into your magic. You would both be healthy. You wouldn’t deal with the sudden urges for blood and gore. You were already temperamental as children, no doubt due to that wretched father you had. The day my sister turned you into vampires, that excess power was locked in your minds. The bloodlust overtook you. You can hardly remain calm when someone pushes your buttons. Alas, you were raised by someone who did not understand such things. Look what you became. Monsters. Is your niece really safe with you?”</p><p>“Maybe not with me specifically,” countered Hilda, not wanting to show Dahlia that there was a lot of reason in what she was saying. “But she needs to be with her parents. If she went with you, you wouldn’t let them see her. You would raise her to think you were her mother. She’d be linked to you and you’d feed off of her power. Don’t pretend that you want for Hope to benefit. All you care about is power for yourself.”</p><p>Dahlia laughed lightly. “And I was under the impression that you and Niklaus got along least. It is surprising how adamantly you defend his child.”</p><p>Hilda gritted her teeth. “What, was this your plan? Sway me with magical talk, make me see how much you know about magic, and hand my niece directly to you? I’m mentally ill, but I am not an idiot. I don’t care how bloodthirsty I am, I would never give you the power that you desire.”</p><p>Dahlia cast her an almost smug look. “Well, my child, I wasn’t going to ask so nicely. Unfortunately, Mikael breeds the most stubborn brats I’ve ever met. You won’t give me the power I desire… certainly not. But I will take it from you.”</p><p>Hilda started to speed away, but Dahlia flicked her hand, making the Original croak and fall to her knees as she began to desiccate. </p><p>“If you will not hand Hope to me after seeing that I am actually experienced…” said Dahlia, watching her niece writhe on the floor and start to go unconscious, “then I will use your strength to fuel myself. I’ll get her on my own.”</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>Hilda woke up with a massive headache.</p><p>She sat up and nearly sank back down again. She felt incredibly weak. It was only after doing a double take that she realized she was in the Compound. <em>But how? </em> </p><p>“Hilly!” </p><p>Rebekah came running to greet her, now back in her Original body.</p><p>“Bex?” said Hilda wearily. She tried to swing her legs over the edge of the couch in the courtyard, but almost fell flat on her face. Her sister caught her. Behind her was Marcel. “What’s going on… where’s Dahlia…?”</p><p>“How is she awake?” said Marcel, leaving Hilda’s question unanswered as Rebekah bit into her wrist to let her feed and replenish her strength. “Freya couldn’t even wake her up.”</p><p>Hilda rubbed her head as Rebekah let her drink. “Dahlia… she was with me… on the street…”</p><p>“She must have been channeling you!” said Rebekah, holding her face steady. “She left you there… Marcel found you. Freya tried to wake you up but she couldn’t. That means… when Klaus took her down…”</p><p>“Huh?” spluttered Hilda, lips smeared in blood. “He killed her?”</p><p>“Not yet,” said Marcel. “Apparently, your brother got her to link with him. He used the dagger Davina and Kol made to subdue himself. Elijah went to get them and Freya and Hope. You’ve been out for two days.”</p><p>Hilda felt this was too much information to absorb all at once. “So when Klaus took her down, her hold on me broke. She was channeling me to get to Hope. I didn’t want to help her…”</p><p>By the time Elijah returned, Hilda had learned that Davina had been so angered with Aiden’s death that she gave Marcel the dagger to subdue the hybrid. Though Klaus hadn’t actually killed Aiden, they subdued him. However, Dahlia had awoken him, and he had seemingly helped her when they tried to kill her, which would have been unsuccessful since apparently Freya’s blood wasn’t the one needed for the spell. The problem was that Hayley seemed to have disappeared in the process, with Dahlia apparently refreshing the Crescent Curse.</p><p>Before Elijah had arrived, they had received a text letting them know that Klaus seemingly wanted Esther to be resurrected, as her blood was the one needed to create the weapon that would kill Dahlia. Elijah had texted saying that since Davina had just been named Regent of the Nine Covens, she could use her power to resurrect Esther. Hilda had grown suspicious of how Rebekah had pursed her lips after reading that aloud. Hilda knew that if anything, Davina would use that power to bring back Kol. </p><p>So, just before her brother walked through the entrance, she took a ‘bathroom trip’ and went to her room, taking the urn of Kol’s ashes and putting them in a small plastic bag, which she tucked into her pocket, leaving the urn where it was.</p><p>“Nik is demented,” said Rebekah in exasperation when Elijah and Freya brought in Hope and the unconscious bodies of Klaus and Dahlia. “Are we really to dig up our mother, burn her to ash, swap said ash with Kol’s, and then trick Davina into using up her last chance to bring someone back from the dead? Not to mention we lose the opportunity to save Kol… if Davina doesn’t turn us inside out!”</p><p>“Or,” said Elijah, “we dig a deep hole and leave both our problems at the bottom of it.”</p><p>Freya glared down at Dahlia. “I say we choose a more permanent option— find the white oak stake, kill Klaus, Dahlia dies with him.”</p><p>Marcel scoffed. “Well, yeah, and so do I, and every other vampire that Klaus has turned!”</p><p>“We’re not killing Klaus and we’re not tricking Davina,” growled Hilda. “There’s got to be another way. If Davina and Freya and maybe Vincent help us— if they channel Elijah, Rebekah, and I— we can find a way to destroy Dahlia without needing to bring Esther back. I won’t stand for sabotaging Davina’s attempt to bring my brother back.”</p><p>Elijah held up a finger. “If Dahlia is not subdued, it will not be safe for Kol to return.”</p><p>“So you’d sacrifice one of our brothers to take this stupid cow down?” cried Hilda. “Maybe we ought to link her to you and stake you instead. I can’t think of anyone important from your sireline.” She quickly held her hand up. “And don’t you dare mention <em>him</em>, Rebekah.”</p><p>“I wasn’t going to,” said the blonde, looking alarmed. “I was going to say the dagger— it’s bloody melting.”</p><p>They whipped their heads down to the dagger that was in Klaus’s chest. Surely enough, the handle was melting, likely due to Dahlia’s magical influence. </p><p>Elijah sighed. “We have no choice but to finish the task that Niklaus has set.”</p><p>“We need to figure something else out!” Hilda cried. “We can’t stop Davina from bringing Kol back. I won’t stand for it. Kol might know magic that we could use against this vile woman—”</p><p>“Kol knows the same things that you do, Hilda!” Elijah stared at her, as if wanting to reprimand her. “We will still bring Kol back. Just when it is safe. I ask you, go speak to Davina first. Speak to her about it, convince her to help us. We will take care of Esther.”</p><p>Hilda felt her heart skip a beat. Did Elijah have no suspicions of her in that moment? The ashes lay safely in her pocket, and he was sending her off to Davina?</p><p>“Fine,” she said, pretending to be angry so that he wouldn’t sense her joy. “I expect a progress report.”</p><p>She sped off, finding Davina in the Lafayette Cemetery, within the Lyonne tomb this time.</p><p>“We haven’t got much time,” said Hilda hurriedly, taking the ashes out. “I know this is very sudden but if we don’t bring him back right now, we won’t get a chance.”</p><p>Davina didn’t question it. She ran to one of the back cabinets and got a glass jar and one of her grimoires. She urged Hilda to move the ashes into the jar and placed a lid on it. She motioned for Hilda to prepare one of the empty stone coffins. Already knowing what to do, Hilda moved about as quickly as she dared, spreading herbs and salt and lighting candles around to prepare for the spell. Davina rubbed her hands together and looked over the parchment she prepared before handing it to Hilda. “Look it over,” she said nervously. “It needs to be perfect.”</p><p>Hilda didn’t need to look too deep. “It’s already perfect, Davina, I promise. Now, here, take my hand, I ought to show you what Kol looks like so you can visualize him properly.”</p><p>The young witch held on, and Hilda went to one of her favorite memories— the day Kol had tried to cut his hair, but had messed up so badly, they’d had a witch grow it back for him.</p><p>Davina was blushing when they exited the memory. Hilda smirked knowingly, and Davina cleared her throat, taking the ash jar and moving it in front of herself. “It’s gonna be weird, seeing you with your original face from now on,” she said, biting her lip. </p><p>She stood and motioned for Hilda to remove the lid of the stone coffin that had been raised up from the ground. Davina was about to put the ashes in when the two heart footsteps. They frowned at each other and walked out of the crypt.</p><p>“He was a handsome one, my brother,” said Rebekah from outside. She cast Hilda a smile before facing Davina, who looked annoyed to see Rebekah back in her Original body. The two walked forward, Hilda with her fists balled and ready to fight her sister, if need be.</p><p>“So much for your big promise to stay a witch until we got Kol back,” said the witch sarcastically.</p><p>Rebekah looked almost hurt. “He is my <em>brother</em>, and I've loved him <em>many</em> lifetimes longer than you have been on this earth. I will stop at <em>nothing</em> to get Kol back, no matter what flesh I'm in.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” said Davina, a bit guiltily. “What happened?”</p><p>“Nik happened,” said Rebekah, spreading her arms wide. “I suppose he thinks I'm more durable in this body, and he's probably right, given we're up against Dahlia.” She then stopped. “Listen, I know Hilda didn’t tell you to help us. I know she brought the ashes instead. But Davina, we need your help.”</p><p>Davina was confused, and Hilda glared suspiciously at her sister. “What do you want me to do?” asked the young witch. </p><p>“There is only one witch strong enough to stop Dahlia, and that is Hilda and I’s very dead mother, Esther,” said Rebekah. “I need you to use your power as Regent to bring her back.”</p><p>“No,” said Hilda angrily before Davina could speak. She stepped in front of the witch. “I already told you all, Bex, I don’t want this chance to go to waste. I, unlike you, have actually been helping Davina with this spell. Kol can help us take down Dahlia and protect Hope. We are not sabotaging Davina’s spell.”</p><p>“Hilly, please!” insisted Rebekah. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but—”</p><p>“I won’t help you!” snapped Davina, stepping back in front of Hilda. “She’s right— I only get one shot at this. I’m using it to bring back Kol.”</p><p>“Please, love,” Rebekah begged. “I promise you, we will find another way.”</p><p>Davina thrust her hand out, causing a loud snapping sound to emit through the cemetery as Rebekah’s femur was broken. The younger Original yelled out in pain. “You’re a liar!” snarled Davina. “You, and Elijah, and Klaus! Kol told me just how much you all mistreated him and Hilda. They’re the only two that ever meant anything, and we’re bringing him back, whether you like it or not!” She twisted her hand, snapping Rebekah’s neck before walking back into the tomb. </p><p>When they got back inside, Davina picked up the jar of ashes and removed the lid before dumping its contents into the soil and water that Hilda had prepared within the coffin. They put the lid back over it and linked hands, the two closed their eyes and began to chant, “<em>Fian en che en kanu! Fian en che en kanu!”</em></p><p>The candles around them blazed into the air around them as they continued to chant. “<em>Fian en che en kanu! Fian en che en kanu! Fian en che en kanu! Fian en che en kanu!”</em></p><p>The flames abruptly died out, and Hilda immediately sensed a presence within the coffin. There was movement, and a hand suddenly burst out, breaking through the lid. Davina and Hilda were too excited to realize at first that the hand most certainly did not belong to Kol. The pieces of the lid began to fall apart, and Hilda reached her hand out to take the one that had emerged.</p><p>“Kol,” she said happily, ready to hug him. “How do you—”</p><p>Her expression was mingled with horror and rage. Esther, in her original body, looked up at her daughter, who released her hand immediately. “You!” she cried.</p><p>Davina was confused. “Who the hell is she?”</p><p>“Mother,” snarled Hilda, standing up and backing away. “No— no— what did they do?!”</p><p>The young witch stared at the older one, who said nothing and covered her chest, as she was nude. Davina stood hastily and grabbed a towel, throwing it at the woman, who wrapped it around herself and emerged from the coffin, eyes remaining fixated on her daughter, who looked conflicted. Should Hilda kill her now, or torture her?</p><p>She heard footsteps and sped to the entrance, seeing Rebekah. “WHAT DID YOU DO?” she screamed, grabbing onto her sister’s jacket and shaking her violently. </p><p>“It wasn’t Rebekah.”</p><p>Hilda released her and saw Elijah was behind her sister. She shook with unbridled fury, her jaw tightening. “You didn’t… you switched… when Rebekah…”</p><p>“That was our only chance!” shrieked Davina, beginning to cry from frustration. “That was Kol’s only chance! Now I know why he hates you!”</p><p>She stormed to Elijah and raised her hand, but Rebekah sped to her, putting her in a chokehold. Hilda made to assist Davina, but Elijah held her back, leaving the little witch to be left unconscious.</p><p>“You’re kidding me!” cried Hilda as Rebekah moved to put some of the anti-magic shackles onto Esther, who up until now, had no desire to do magic. She simply wanted to observe. “Elijah— <em>what the bloody fucking hell were you thinking?!”</em></p><p>“Forgive me, sister,” he said gently. “This had to be done.”</p><p>“No it didn’t!” she spat. “You could— you could have—”</p><p>Rebekah grabbed her hands, keeping her from punching Elijah. “Calm down, Hilly. Let’s get this over with. Please.”</p><p>Hilda hadn’t realized she was crying. She swallowed hard, her body trembling. She thought things were better. She thought she and her siblings could get along again. Clearly, she had been wrong. </p><p>They were made to return to the Compound, as it was revealed that Klaus was awake, and so was Dahlia (she had kidnapped Freya).</p><p>“Ah, Mother,” said Klaus, amused when he saw Esther. “I've arrived just in time for another one of your deaths, and as much as I appreciate the front-row seat, I'm afraid I'm going to have to postpone the festivities.”</p><p>It was blatantly clear that Elijah was just as furious with Klaus as Hilda was with him. “You’re in excellent spirits.”</p><p>Klaus smiled wickedly. “Lucky for you, as I'm the one needed to save the day.”</p><p>“Is that what it’s called?” said Elijah, unamused.</p><p>“Why not?” said Klaus. “My plans worked perfectly.” At this, Elijah lunged at him, but Klaus stopped him. “Easy, Elijah— I can see your red door swinging wide open, but our job's not yet done.”</p><p>“So, we kill her and be done with it!” snapped Hilda angrily. “She’s just wasting space here, space that should be filled with Kol instead!”</p><p>“To be clear,” said Klaus patiently, “I do want her blood, but I want it on this blade—” He held up a long silver knife. “—which I've had bound with the soil from Dahlia's homeland, not to mention Viking ash. Mother's demise will have to wait. You see, I need her to weaken Dahlia's defenses.” He leaned in to whisper in Esther’s ear. “Bit of psychological warfare before I slaughter the both of you.”</p><p>“Ah, yes,” said Esther sarcastically. “You expect me to walk <em>willingly</em> to my death.”</p><p>Klaus grinned. “Well, your willing participation would have been a bonus, but it's far from necessary. If needs be, I'll drag you there myself.”</p><p>“Yes, dear Mother, you do not have a choice,” chimed in Rebekah, leaning back against the door. “Then again, why should you be any different from the rest of us? We're all dancing puppets in Nik's end-of-days marionette show. He forces every move we make.”</p><p>Klaus looked upset at this. “And how long are you gonna stand there and pretend you don't need me to? The three of you have fought me at every turn, leaving me no choice but to act alone! We're no strangers to disagreements on the battlefield, but we also have a very long history of doing whatever it takes to win the war.”</p><p>“And what of Gia?” demanded Elijah. “Hayley?”</p><p>Hilda immediately turned to Rebekah at the sound of Gia’s name. Her sister mouthed, <em>‘Klaus killed her.’ </em>Hilda nearly felt sorry for Elijah. Instead, she focused her emotions on pity for Gia. She had seemed nice. </p><p>“Collateral damage,” said Klaus indifferently. </p><p>Elijah punched Klaus right in the face, and neither Rebekah nor Hilda tried to defend the hybrid. “You claim your actions are part of some ruse,” Elijah sneered. “This was punishment.”</p><p>“Punishment?” said Klaus innocently. “Perhaps the dagger you put in my heart? I always thought it’d be Hilda who did that to me. Instead, it was you.”</p><p>“You brought that upon yourself!” Elijah shouted. “No, we have fought together for <em>centuries</em>, and once again, to break your enemy, you broke <em>your family</em>. Well, know this— whatever the outcome tonight, you will no longer see me by your side. You want to be alone? Well, congratulations. You have your wish.” He turned and grabbed Esther by the shackles, dragging her out the door. “Come, Mother.”</p><p>He walked out, and Rebekah followed. Hilda and Klaus shared a look. The hybrid scoffed. “Good riddance, I say,” he muttered.</p><p>“Don’t act like changing the ashes wasn’t your idea, Niklaus,” said Hilda venomously. “As soon as that stupid wrinkly crone is dead, I’m leaving, too.”</p><p>It didn’t matter to Hilda that her siblings were her family. Even later on, when they found Dahlia and Freya, gasped in unison with the White Oak stake destroyed into fine powder that threatened to kill them all, and watched their mother and aunt die while wrapped in an embrace, Hilda could only think of how betrayed she felt. </p><p>Every single time she thought things were improving, they went right back to rock bottom. </p><p>Thus, the instant Dahlia was dead, Hilda packed her bags and left, only stopping to kiss Hope on the forehead.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0043"><h2>43. Chapter 43</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>June 23, 2013</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>Hilda was scared to attend the wedding.</strong>
</p><p>For several months, she had been living on her own, completely isolated from her family. She didn’t contact them. She didn’t check in on what was happening in New Orleans. She remained alone, living in a small apartment in Washington, where she hoped they wouldn’t find her.</p><p>Either they understood she didn’t want to see them, or they gave up in their search. It didn’t matter to Hilda— she didn’t need them.</p><p>She spent her days reading and watching movies. She tried to work out, even though there was no need to get in shape for the wedding. She installed a punching bag to take out her anger. She called Damon and Alaric everyday, sometimes getting a chance to speak to Stefan or Jo.</p><p>It wasn’t the healthiest lifestyle. She fed every day on some new victim. Hearing Jo’s voice made her jealous and she hated herself for feeling that way. So she fed some more, reminding herself that Alaric was better off with Jo.</p><p>The day before the wedding had been the most terrible day when it came to her emotions.</p><p>She had been drunk since the morning, trying to urge herself to let out the nerves building inside of her. She tried to shake it off with a good jog, but nothing seemed to work. </p><p>Damon had called her in the afternoon, asking if she wanted to come to Alaric’s bachelor party.</p><p>“It’ll be fun!” he said encouragingly. “Dress sexy.”</p><p>“Are you stupid?” she slurred, her legs up on her couch. “That’s… so inappropriate… disrespectful…”</p><p>“Okay, fine, you can join Bonnie and Elena at Jo’s bachelorette party. It’s just going to be the three of them.”</p><p>“Damon… I’m still in Washington… I won’t get there until tomorrow afternoon… and… that’s gonna be so strange… she’ll think badly of me…”</p><p>“Jeez, you’re too drunk for me to be asking you this, but do you really think she’ll hate you if you go to support her? Are you planning for her to meet you for the first time at the wedding?”</p><p>Hilda nodded weakly. “Mhm… don’t call anymore… need to throw up.”</p><p>In the evening when she was packing for her flight, she felt better, but still unmotivated. It was made worse when she got a call from Alaric.</p><p>“Hey,” she said gently, trying to sound perfectly happy. “How was the bachelor party? Couldn’t make it, sorry.”</p><p>“It’s okay— but— I just found out the craziest thing.”</p><p>“What is it?” she asked, thinking he discovered that his true father was a centaur, or something along those lines.</p><p>“Jo and I are having twins!”</p><p>Hilda nearly fainted. She stumbled back into her bed, a pain so great in her side that it took all her strength to not let out a gasp of shock. “Wow!” she said instead, her lip trembling. “That’s amazing! Two babies instead of one— how did you find out?”</p><p>“Damon’s mother, actually. She heard two heartbeats and told Jo. I still can’t believe it… first time father to twins.”</p><p>“At least my parents already had a few kids before that,” Hilda tried to joke. Her eyes watered. Why did this hurt her so much? She ought to be completely happy for him, not feeling envious. “That’s amazing, Ric. Jo must be thrilled.”</p><p>“She sort of is— it’s just the whole Gemini Coven and the Merge concern…”</p><p>“There’s gotta be a way to get them out of it. There must be other twins that can take up that burden.”</p><p>“We’ll see. We’re still thinking of leaving the country, you know, to be away from all that. Maybe we’ll be able to protect them.”</p><p>Hilda wished she was over him. She wished she no longer felt excited when she heard him calling. She wished she didn’t find herself remembering their kisses, in the dead of night. But the truth was that she still had feelings for him, and the next day, it was incredibly difficult for her to get her bags and hop on a plane to Mystic Falls. </p><p>But she did. Because no matter what she felt, she knew Alaric and Jo wanted her there to support them on their special day.</p><p>Hilda had done what was previously agreed on, and gone into the Salvatore House to get into her dress before speeding to the wedding. As afternoon was setting in, she found most of the guests already there, consisting mostly of the Gemini Coven. Nearby, she saw Caroline in a gorgeous blue and white gown, while Elena stood beside her in a desert rose bridesmaid dress. Hilda had on a blue and pink v-neck with a flower print on it, and had braided ribbons into her curled hair, leaving only two small curly strands to mimic curtain bangs. </p><p>“Hey, Hilda,” said Elena kindly when Hilda walked up with a shy smile. “That’s such a pretty dress!”</p><p>“Thanks,” said Hilda softly. “Um, is it alright if I hang with the two of you for a bit? I don’t know anyone else, really…”</p><p>“Sure,” said Elena, though Caroline had suddenly gone rigid. Hilda looked to where she was facing and saw Stefan. Assuming something must be off, she ignored that Caroline scurried off to make herself busy.  </p><p>“Will you come with me to leave a present at the gifts table?” asked Hilda awkwardly.</p><p>Elena nodded. “Sure. It’s over here.” She led her to where a large stack of presents was laid out. All around them, waiters were handing out champagne. The place was built like a barn, with lanterns set up outside. It looked fairly nice, but it didn’t match Hilda’s tastes.</p><p>When they got to the table, Hilda quickly slipped an envelope under one of the larger presents. She hadn’t known what to get them, so she’d just written a check to help them get themselves a nicer place once the babies were born.</p><p>She straightened back up, feeling a bit better about things. When she looked back over her shoulder at Elena, she saw Alaric not far behind. She quickly whipped her head back, hoping he hadn’t seen her.</p><p>“Are you okay?” said Elena. </p><p>“I’m fine,” the Original told her hastily. “Nothing wrong here.”</p><p>Elena had to dash off soon after, but Hilda was at the very least glad that no one seemed to be paying her any attention. Alaric hadn’t noticed her, and she hadn’t had to see Jo yet. That was perhaps what she dreaded the most. Jo was perfect and Hilda was… Hilda. And even so, Hilda was jealous of her.</p><p>When the doors opened for seating, she waited near the back, planning to take any chair left open. However, to her surprise, Stefan approached her. “Caroline would like you to sit with us,” he said cordially. “Elena and Damon are maid of honor and best man, so we can have you be with us.”</p><p>Hilda offered him a small smile. “Um, sure.”</p><p>She sat at the edge of the aisle, feeling like she might need to dash off in a hurry. Stefan sat on the other side of her. They could hear Caroline barking orders to the waiters and waitresses, and it made her smile. In another reality, Caroline might have been her sister-in-law. That would have been fun. </p><p>“Distract me,” she mumbled quietly as Alaric walked up to the front with the Reverend. She kept her gaze down, pretending to be very interested in her nails.</p><p>Stefan, apparently, had the perfect distraction. “Damon’s going to take the cure,” he said. “Elena took it, and he wants to follow suit.”</p><p>That was a perfect distraction. Hilda raised her eyebrows. “That’s a big step.”</p><p>“I spent basically all day trying to convince him that he wouldn’t like that, because Elena and I thought he didn’t actually think it through. But he did. And, well, they’re going to be happy together.”</p><p>Hilda forced herself to look up at Alaric, who was staring at her. She waved as calmly as she could. <em>‘They’re going to be happy together,’ </em>she told herself.<em> ‘Don’t ruin it for them.’</em></p><p>At last, it seemed like the wedding was going to get started. A gentle tune started to play, the starting cords for a song that Hilda vaguely recognized. How couldn’t she recognize it? This was one of Rebekah’s favorite songs. A cover by Civil Wars, <em>Dance Me To the End of Love </em>was a piece that Rebekah very much enjoyed— a song she said she’d play at her own wedding. It made Hilda quite nearly tear up just listening to the music as Damon and Elena walked out, but she quickly composed herself and stood with the crowd to watch Jo walk down the aisle.</p><p>She was incredibly beautiful. Hilda felt a new wave of guilt washing over her. She was just perfect. A gorgeous vision of dark hair and shining eyes, a gentle demeanor and the kindest smile. </p><p>Hilda beamed at her, waving slightly and nodding respectfully as her father, Joshua Parker, led her down the aisle. Jo recognized her immediately and mouthed, ‘thank you for coming,’ before facing Alaric, who was staring at his bride with such a loving expression that Hilda felt even worse. How could she even think of coming between them? They fit together too well. </p><p>Joshua Parker kissed his daughter on the cheek, letting her stand opposite to Alaric as the female Reverend gestured for the guests to be seated.</p><p>“Welcome,” she said, “family and friends, on this magical evening to the wedding of Alaric Saltzman and Josette Laughlin. Josette and Alaric have prepared their own vows.”</p><p>Alaric cleared his throat, taking Jo’s hands and looking into her eyes. “Neither one of us should be here right now. We've spent our life dodging fate and beating the odds. But, because we did, I got to meet you, the most beautiful, hilarious and intimidatingly brilliant woman I have ever known. You inspire me, you've shown me that happiness is actually something that I can have in my life. And so…” He reached back, and Tyler Lockwood moved forward with the cushion holding the wedding rings. He held one up and took Jo’s hand. “I promise to be with you, and love you, and to dodge fate with you—” he slipped the ring onto her finger, “for the rest of our lives.”</p><p>Jo had teared up, and the Reverend had to prompt her to get on with her vows. “Oh, God,” she said shakily, squeezing Alaric’s hands. “That’s a tough act to follow.” The guests laughed appreciatively at her comment. “Here it goes— Alaric Saltzman, you are…”</p><p>Hilda smelled blood before anyone else.</p><p>But no one knew what was happening. One second, Jo had been speaking, and the next, she let out a gasp. There was a strange noise, and Hilda furrowed her eyebrows. It was so familiar, yet, it didn’t make sense… why was the front of Jo’s dress suddenly turning crimson?</p><p>“Jo?” cried Alaric when he realized she was bleeding. “Jo? Jo— oh my God— Jo—”</p><p>She let out a loud, panicked scream, collapsing into his arms. Hilda shot to her feet as the guests started to panic, but before she could move, she was stopped in her tracks by the sudden appearance of a face she’d only seen in a newspaper.</p><p>“I was going to wait ‘til the ‘death do us apart’ bit,” said Malachai Parker, staring around the building, “but it seemed a little on the nose. Am I right?”</p><p>Everyone was in complete shock. Alaric was yelling and sobbing, holding Jo, and by the time Hilda snapped out of her daze of surprise and moved toward them, Kai had already lifted his head, emitting a painfully high-pitched and thunderous noise that left every single guest clutching their heads in agony. Hilda screamed and tried to crawl forward, set on going to help Jo, but it was no use. </p><p>“Miss me?” said Kai, smirking gleefully at the sight of them in pain. “No? Oh well.” He thrust his hands out, and the air around them exploded.</p><p>Glass and debris flew everywhere. Hilda was knocked off her feet and sent toppling back onto Stefan and Caroline, who unfortunately fell onto some of the witches present. Hilda’s ears rang painfully as she managed to open her eyes, registering the sensation of pain. She was looking up at the sky— part of the ceiling had been blown off, and the chandelier that previously resided above had crashed into the ground. </p><p>The Original struggled to get up, ignoring the screams and the incredibly potent stench of blood. Kai was nowhere in sight, but Joshua Parker was yelling for him to show himself. Damon was on the floor, cradling an unconscious Elena. Caroline and Stefan ran to her side, but Hilda’s instincts told her to do something different.</p><p>She didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate. The only thing that came to mind was that Alaric loved Jo. That was enough to Hilda. She knew she had the power to save her and it no longer mattered that she had never wanted to do this before. Her fears of having sirelings, of condemning someone to the same fate as her were forgotten. What mattered was that Jo meant everything to Alaric and that was all that Hilda cared about. Helping him have someone he wanted even if that someone wasn’t her.</p><p>She tore forward the instant her pain subsided, biting into her own wrist and shoving it against the bride’s lips amidst Alaric’s sobs of distress. Hilda desperately dripped the blood into Jo’s mouth, but it simply dribbled off her chin. </p><p>“Drink,” she demanded, cradling the woman’s body. “Damn it— drink! </p><p>But it was already too late. There was nothing Hilda could have done, because Jo was dead before the Original reached her.</p><p>“No,” she said shakily, grabbing at Jo’s shoulders and shaking her. “No— no— wake up— wake up right now—” she felt for a pulse, but there was nothing. She tried to pry her mouth open and bit into her wrist again, letting the blood fall in. “JO! No— no— this can’t be happening—”</p><p>There was a loud snapping noise, and Hilda turned to see Caroline and Stefan’s bodies falling dead on the floor, Kai now standing where he had been before. “Nothing personal,” he said darkly. “But this is a family matter now.”</p><p>He came over to where Alaric was still sobbing, coming to crouch beside Hilda, who was trembling so badly, she didn’t react when he patted her shoulder for support. “Tsk,” he said, looking down at Jo’s lifeless body. “Oh…”</p><p>Hilda gulped as Kai fixated his eyes on her. “You’re the Original that had the hots for Ric, aren’t you?” he said, taking her chin in his hand. “I heard all about you… little homewrecker…”</p><p>There was the sudden sound of chanting. “<em>Sanguinem filio. Sanguinem effurgarex perpetuum</em>.”</p><p>Kai looked bored, and he looked up as his father and several Gemini Coven members started to get up. “Let me guess, Prison World? I mean, you can’t kill me, or else you all die too, right.” He pointed at Hilda mockingly, taking advantage of the fact that she was in too much shock to retaliate. “You, you’re immortal, huh? Must be nice… tell me, what’s it like to be a vampire?”</p><p>She swallowed a lump in her throat as he cast her a wicked look, bringing his hand around her throat and siphoning just enough to make her feel weak, bringing her sinking further onto the floor. “Look at you… a permanent battery. I should keep you around…” He looked back at Alric with fake sympathy. “Hey, I'm sorry about your twinsies. I just don't feel like competing for leadership with future Gemini twins. See... when your family decides that your nothing but an irredeemable piece of trash, well... I guess the best thing to do is prove them right, right?”</p><p>Something inside Hilda snapped in that moment, and in an instant, she had sped up, pinning Kai into the nearest wall that wasn’t broken, and delivering a hard punch to his face.</p><p>He smirked at the challenge, and with ease, thrust his hand out, making contact with her body. With his palm having collided on her side, he began to siphon more than before, eliciting a loud yell of pain from her mouth. "So, the Original does have some fight in her? Nice to know you’re not just a lovesick idiot.” Behind them, the Gemini Coven was still chanting, but Hilda was growing too woozy to understand what they were saying.</p><p>“Night night,” Kai said wickedly, flicking his wrist before snapping her neck.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>When she awoke, the familiar faces were all gone.</p><p>Everyone still currently in the building was dead. The members of the Gemini Coven were strewn everyone, covered in blood, some with their eyes wide open. Caroline and Stefan were nowhere to be found. Kai and Alaric were gone, and so was Jo’s body.</p><p>Hilda shakily got to her feet at the sound of gunshots outside. Still feeling drowsy, she reached for the nearest body and took some of the nearly dried blood onto her finger, sucking on it to replenish herself before speeding out, where she found Alaric holding a gun to his head.</p><p>“NO!” she screamed.</p><p>But when he pulled the trigger, nothing happened. Kai was standing in front of him— apparently the person he’d first been shooting at. Kai let out a dark, mocking laugh. “Ooh. Looks like somebody’s having a very bad day.”</p><p>Hilda went rigid as Kai turned to face her. “Look at that, I came back from the dead faster than you. I thought you Originals were supposed to heal fast.”</p><p>“What the hell did you do?” she snarled.</p><p>“I turned myself into a Heretic,” he said, sounding absolutely delighted. “It's really incredible, actually. I can <em>literally </em>siphon the magic of my vampirism and convert it into <em>more magic</em>. You know about magic, right?” </p><p>Hilda didn’t get to answer. Out of nowhere, a figure lunged forward, and the next second, Kai let out a yell of pain as Tyler Lockwood chomped into his neck. <em>“Motus!” </em>yelled Kai, sending the werewolf flying back. He scampered off after one look at Alaric, and Kai chuckled weakly, apparently not realizing how lethal a werewolf bite was, now that he was a vampire. “Ha… bad doggie.” </p><p>He sped off, and Hilda immediately rushed to Alaric’s side. “Ric,” she said desperately. “Ric, where is she?”</p><p>“I-In the trunk,” he managed, gesturing to the car beside him. </p><p>“Alright, what can I do?” she said. “Where do you want me to drive you? Is there someone I should call—?”</p><p>“No.” He said it with such ferocity that Hilda flinched. “You… you are the last person I want to see right now.”</p><p>Albeit hurt, she stepped back. Apparently, however, he wasn’t done. “You… you’re supposed to be one of the most powerful creatures on the planet,” he mumbled. He sounded so emotionally exhausted that if it weren’t for the fact that Hilda could hear his heartbeat, she would have thought he was dead. “How… how is it that the strongest one in the room… couldn’t do anything?”</p><p>Her heart ached, seeing him in such pain. “I-I was in shock,” she said meekly. “I… I know, I should have reacted faster…”</p><p>“You’ve seen worse things,” he muttered, glaring at her almost hatefully. “You’ve <em>done</em> worse things. Am I really… really supposed to believe that you were in shock?”</p><p>“I didn’t expect something like this to happen!” she cried out. “Ric, if you don’t want me to help you, that’s fine, but for what it’s worth, <em>I’m sorry.</em> I should have done more—”</p><p>“Yes, you should have!” he yelled, slamming his hand against the door of his car. “Some friend you are…”</p><p>Her expression became hard. “It’s not like I wanted for her to get hurt,” she said coldly. “I tried to feed her my blood, Ric, I was too late, and I’m sorry—”</p><p>“You should be sorry!” he yelled. “This— this is your fault.”</p><p>She knew that she shouldn’t take his words seriously. He was hurt and he needed someone to blame, because who could have expected that Kai would escape the 1903 prison world? All the same, it hurt.</p><p>“It’s not my fault that he came to kill her,” she sneered, her fists balled up.</p><p>“You could have saved her,” Alaric said, jabbing a finger toward the trunk where Jo’s body lay. “But no… you just couldn’t stand her, could you?”</p><p>“That’s not true! Do— do you not realize— that’s the first time I have ever tried to feed someone my blood. My first instinct was to save her! I’m sorry I didn’t react sooner, I’m sorry I was incapacitated, I didn’t want her to lose her life!”</p><p>He let out a frustrated groan. “Get out of here.”</p><p>“Ric, please, let me help you, in any way that I can—”</p><p>“You’ve done enough!” he said, tears of pain already dried on his face. “I don’t want to have this memory, I want it out of my head. I don’t want to be alive anymore, so the one favor you can do me is killing me, because I never want to see you again.”</p><p>Hilda gulped. “Alaric…”</p><p>“No— this is your fault,” he continued, his rage built up so much that he just had to fixate his anger on her. He knew it wasn’t her fault, he knew she had done everything she could even when she didn’t have to, and yet, he was yelling at her. He didn’t know what else to do— how else to go about life when his bride had been killed right before they were married? And now Hilda was here, and she was being kind as always, wanting to help him, and he just couldn’t handle it. “If you hadn’t dumped me, I never would have gotten to know Jo. She wouldn’t have been in danger— she wouldn’t have died, and my twins wouldn't have died, either."</p><p>“Ric, I didn’t want her or the babies to die,” she said desperately. </p><p>“GET OUT!” Alaric yelled. “Get out of here and don’t come back, I don’t want to see you anymore. You Mikaelsons only ever care about yourselves. You never… never think how your actions will affect other people."</p><p>Hilda turned away. “If that’s how you really feel, then fine.”</p><p>Never before had she thrown such a tantrum.</p><p>It was probably the most destructive she had been. The instant she returned to Washington, she had gone on a killing spree in the airport. She was so angry and hurt and just frustrated that she hadn’t been able to save Jo. The one time that she tried to heal someone with her blood, and it didn’t even work. </p><p>She had trashed her apartment, leaving bits of furniture lodged in the walls. She screamed and sobbed and when her neighbors came to check up on her, she’d killed them.</p><p>Her instincts had told her to hop back on a flight to New Orleans. It was the last thing she wanted to do, but somehow, she knew it was what she needed. It didn’t matter how angry she was with her siblings, this was not something she could fix alone.</p><p>Klaus was playing with Hope in the Courtyard when she arrived. He sat up quickly, and instantly knew something was wrong, seeing Hilda’s shirt was drenched in blood— she’d killed another several travelers once she landed. He could see the spark of madness in her eyes and the way her body trembled, her face still stained with tears.</p><p>She started to sob, and Klaus caught her before she fell to her knees, letting her bury her face in his chest, clutching onto him so desperately that he was transported into her mind. He saw visions of what’d happened, and he knew immediately that he would forever regret not having brought Kol back. Who better to help her than the only brother who understood how her emotions took a toll on her?</p><p>If she had the ability to turn her humanity off, he knew she would have.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0044"><h2>44. Chapter 44</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>October 19, 2013</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>Hilda wasn’t all too sure how she managed to function.</strong>
</p><p>Possibly, it was all thanks to Freya and Hope.</p><p>She had been inconsolable the first few days she’d been back. Elijah had visited one day when Klaus was out of the Compound, and he hadn’t been able to get a word across. Rebekah called, but Hilda just mostly listened to her talk— she didn’t know what to say. It was easier to relate to Klaus in this state (he kept bringing unsuspecting tourists in for her to feed on). </p><p>But overall, if any progress was made, it was through the influence of the oldest and youngest Mikaelsons.</p><p>Freya had already been caring for Hope in Hayley’s absence. Elijah took his niece to see her mother on every full moon when she could be human enough to hold her. Thus, Freya was already bustling around the house caring for someone, and it was quite easy for her to add Hilda into the mix.</p><p>At first, Hilda had been very livid with Freya bringing Hope into her room every day. She thought Freya was purposely putting the baby girl in danger. Instead, the two women found that Hope just brought a smile to the face of anyone near her.</p><p>Hilda distracted herself with changing diapers and cleaning the place. Sometimes, to sleep soundly, Freya and Hope would spend the night in her room, the baby between the two sisters, cooing and making them smile even in their sleep.</p><p>That was not to say that Hilda hadn’t been making contact with outside sources.</p><p>It became a regular thing for Hilda to be messaging Bonnie Bennett, Damon Salvatore, and Caroline Forbes. The first two were off traveling with Alaric to help him grieve. Damon gave the best updates on his condition, but Bonnie had started up a project that kept Hilda’s mind fixated on solutions rather than sadness. As it turned out, Kai Parker had apparently linked Bonnie and Elena’s lives, meaning that Elena could not wake from a deep slumber until Bonnie passed.</p><p>“He said there’s no loopholes,” said Bonnie one evening on FaceTime, so that the witch could see Hope. “But that can’t be possible, can it? He said if we try to find a loophole, Elena and I will both die, immediately.”</p><p>“It doesn’t matter how smart Kai is, there is <em>always</em> a loophole. However, there has to be some credibility to his statements— preventative measures he took. He might have combined the Linking Spell with a Blocking Spell to keep it from being disturbed without his knowledge.”</p><p>“The problem is that Kai’s dead. So now, we know nothing.”</p><p>“What I think might work— but this might be a reach— is for one of those Heretics to siphon simultaneously from you and Elena. It might destroy the Linking Spell, but it could also kill you because I bet he cast a corrupted Protection Spell. Like, he had to have added elements of it because otherwise the link would be very easy to break, but he must have made it only hover over you, if that makes sense. He wants you to suffer and to get hurt. So I fear siphoning might kill you and ensure Elena wakes up. The majority of the spell is concentrated on her. Less siphoning would need to be done on you, but the Heretic would need to siphon from <em>both</em> of you, as long as it takes. </p><p>“I can do some brainstorming and ask a few of my sources for advice, but without being able to see into his mind, it will be pretty hard to determine exactly what he did. Even if we figure out which spell theories he applied, we don’t know what ratios he used, and if we don’t get it right, it just puts you both in danger. But I guarantee— there is a loophole. No witch is that good, not even Hope. Look at her, she’s a tribrid, but she’ll have a weakness, too. Nature always creates a balance. Doesn’t matter how much work Kai put into it, it’s <em>very</em> possible to break this curse, it will just take time and work.”</p><p>Caroline, meanwhile, was keeping Hilda occupied with gossip from what was happening in Whitmore and Mystic Falls. Hilda very much liked Caroline, and she knew Klaus often listened in on their conversations. Caroline and Stefan seemed to be doing decently well, and at least, hearing about how the Heretics were taking over the town was making Hilda think of something that wasn’t Alaric.</p><p>She had never really thought about the idea of having so many close friends. Now, she considered Damon, Caroline, and Bonnie as close friends. Before, she’d really only thought of Alaric that way. They were good people and they knew how best to keep her from focusing on the negative. They told her only what she needed to know about Alaric to keep her sane. They let her know that he was incredibly sorry for what he had said to her, but he still felt uncomfortable with the prospect of speaking with her on the phone, likely due to the shame he felt at having snapped at her so violently when she had just been trying to help him. Otherwise, the new friends brought up a wide variety of topics that got her thinking about anything other than Alaric. She didn't intend to dwell on his wellbeing any longer than necessary because it had already been hard enough for her to get accustomed to not talking to him every day.</p><p>And within the Compound, Hilda seemed to be growing much closer with Freya. With Rebekah out traveling, the two sisters were able to bond. Hilda felt more and more relaxed, seeing Freya now wanted to take over the task of family protector. Freya was helping her with a spell to potentially resurrect Kol as well. </p><p>Outside of speaking to those who helped to calm her, Hilda was confining herself to the Compound. Elijah was still cross with Klaus, and even more so watching him supplying Hilda with people to feed on. Freya didn’t mind, she simply asked for Hilda not to do it around Hope, which was perfectly fine with her. </p><p>But eventually, the curiosity of going outside won her over, even just for a little while. Elijah had come by to ask her to come to St. Anne’s Church with him to go into the fight gym that Marcel had set up once he regained control of the French Quarter. They had made it a routine to go in the afternoons to brawl, much to the entertainment of the young vampires and potential recruits who came to train with Marcel. Seeing two Originals fight was quite a thrill, and according to Marcel, it gave the female recruits a good example and motivation, since Hilda nearly always beat Elijah. </p><p>And at the end of each day, Freya and Hilda devoted time to trying to find a way to break the Crescent Curse on the wolves while they watched Hope sleep. Elijah was more distressed than usual, what with Gia’s death still fresh in his mind, and a terrible worry that Hayley would be hurt as a wolf. Freya was letting Hilda take the lead on anything magic related, while she herself took care of the dirty work that had to do with Elijah and Klaus’s tension. Hilda was thankful that Freya was handling it— it gave her a break and let her stay out of any tense environments. She loved having an older sister. </p><p>Slowly, Hilda began to feel better, though the pain still lingered in the back of her mind. She tried to focus on other things. Davina checked up on her constantly, and told her about the trials of being Regent. Klaus was speaking to Cami often, and Hilda tried to imagine whether they might be a couple one day. </p><p>As the middle of October rolled in, Hilda found herself going outside regularly again and staying in the streets for long periods of time, shopping and walking about and going to parties. That meant she was hearing about what was happening in town now— the main thing seemed to be a potential serial killer. It seemed, however, that this wasn’t New Orleans’s only problem at the moment. When Hilda checked her phone very late in the evening after attending a party that ran past midnight, she was told that poachers had been in the Bayou killing several of the Crescent wolves. Freya had gone to retrieve Hope immediately, but Hilda had gone on a sweep through town— apparently Hayley was missing.</p><p>“Did you find her?” she said urgently as she walked back into the Compound after her search, seeing Elijah had brought Jackson Kenner with him.</p><p>“No,” said Jackson, looking worried and frustrated. “But I bet your brother knows something…”</p><p>That made sense. The three of them trudged up to Klaus’s room, finding him drinking bourbon and staring out the balcony. As he sensed their presence, he said, “I thought I smelled swamp.” He turned to face them, and Jackson growled. “What’d you do with Hayley?”</p><p>Elijah glared at his brother. “Tell me what you know.”</p><p>Klaus had a coy expression as he moved toward them. “Has Jackson misplaced his bride? Come to think about it, I <em>did</em>read that global warming was affecting migration patterns. Try Georgia!”</p><p>“I just left the bodies of people I care about to <em>rot</em> in the woods because <em>you</em> left them defenseless against poachers!” snarled Jackson. “Like Kingmaker Land Development. Does that ring a bell?”</p><p>Klaus faltered, and Jackson realized that he did, in fact, know something. “Yeah,” the wolf continued. “The CEO is Lucien Castle. Elijah was telling me earlier that you two go way back.”</p><p>Instinctively, Klaus and Hilda shared a look. Elijah walked up to the hybrid. “I will ask you once again, Niklaus,” he said sternly. “What do you know.”</p><p>“As it happens,” said Klaus casually, no longer fazed, “I just came back from a romp with our good friend Lucien. You can find him in the penthouse of the <em>gaudy</em> new construction on Canal. And while you two are catching up, be sure to ask him about the prophetic vision he showed me of our family's spectacular downfall. You could use a good laugh.”</p><p>“So Lucien is in town?” said Hilda, putting her hands on her hips. “How long have you known?”</p><p>“Just today, sister, no need to get your knickers in a twist,” said Klaus. “And not to worry, he didn’t bring company.”</p><p>Hilda gritted her teeth. “Well, then let’s all go and speak to him.”</p><p>Klaus shook his head. “<em>Actually</em>, as long as Hayley's prowling about on two legs and unaccounted for, I'm staying with my daughter.” He stepped toward Jackson with a suspicious look. “And, should I discover that this is yet another cock-eyed scheme for Hayley and you to abscond with her, the paltry remains of your beloved wolf pack will be sniffing at your entrails come morning.”</p><p>Jackson sneered, but Elijah sped between them to avoid an altercation. “This doesn't frighten you, brother. But, one day, your daughter will know <em>exactly</em> the kind of man that her father is. If anything should happen to Hayley, you mark my words— <em>no one</em> will have to take Hope from you. She will, without question, leave you of her own accord.”</p><p>Elijah walked out, and Jackson followed. Hilda raised an eyebrow at Klaus, who decided he had nothing to say. She walked out with the other two, and together, they made their way to the Canal to find the new building housing Lucien. A very simple question needed to be asked at the front desk to be pointed to his room, and the three ascended in the elevator.</p><p>“Wait behind,” said Elijah as the doors opened, beckoning for Jackson to remain out of sight of the door. “He must not know right away that you are here.”</p><p>The two siblings left Jackson a few meters behind as they turned the corner toward a handsome door that seemed all too well polished for Hilda’s tastes. Typical Lucien, wanting to show off.</p><p>Elijah rang the doorbell, and Hilda crossed her arms, listening to some movement inside before the door swung open, revealing Lucien, dressed in a suit and with his hair neatly trimmed compared to the last time the two had seen him. “Elijah!” he said brightly. “Hilda— what a glorious pleasure!”</p><p>Elijah cast him a tight-lipped smile. “We do apologize for the late hour.”</p><p>“Oh, it’s no matter,” said Lucien. “I've long been nostalgic for the days when vampires conducted business in the dark.”</p><p>The two siblings made to enter the apartment, but an invisible barrier blocked them out. Lucien chuckled, seeing the confused looks on their faces. “It's a boundary spell. No vampire from another sireline can enter without an invitation.” He cleared his throat. “And yes, my dear Hilda, that includes you. While you may not have sired anyone yet, you still have the potential to do so. One can never be too careful, given the circumstances, you know…”</p><p>Elijah feigned politeness. “Lucien, we didn't come here to chin-wag. Your little corporation has been butchering wolves in the Bayou Lafourche!”</p><p>“It’s population control,” replied the vampire indifferently. “There's viable land out there— viable, that is, once the sudden influx of mangy wildlife has been eliminated.”</p><p>Hilda growled. “Is that an allusion to the Crescent Pack? Because Hayley Marshall-Kenner, one of the Alphas, is missing.”</p><p>Lucien narrowed his eyes before coming to a realization. “The hybrid Nik knocked up?”</p><p>“She’s not just some girl he knocked up, she’s the mother of his child and my unofficial sister-in-law,” sneered Hilda. “And like I already said, you daft git, in case your dimwitted mind didn’t understand the first time, she is one of the Alphas.”</p><p>Lucien wiggled his eyebrows, walking back into his apartment as though he was surprised to hear her speak like that. “I’m surprised at both of you for showing concern, when your family left her to prowl the woods all these months, I just figured the tramp was <em>persona non grata</em>— fair game.”</p><p>Hilda and Elijah shared a dark look, before the both simultaneously sped to the small table in the hallway, breaking off two of the legs and throwing it at Lucien. The piece Elijah threw landed in his throat, while the other piece lodged just below his ribcage, making Lucien yell. This seemed to have infuriated Jackson, as he lunged out from the hallway with a mighty bellow and jumped through the barrier, tackling Lucien onto the floor, his amber eyes blazing as he bit into the vampire’s arm, eliciting an agonized cry from Lucien.</p><p>“They asked you what your hunters did to my wife,” Jackson spat. “Answers. Now.”</p><p>Lucien managed to get to his feet, removing the two wooden table legs from his body. “I’ll have them inspect the roadkill in the morning,” he said coldly. </p><p>Jackson made to retaliate again, but Elijah motioned for him to hold back. “Your time is short,” he told him. “You go to the Compound. Fetch the chains from the carriage room.”</p><p>The wolf sighed but left, and Lucien cast him a glare as his figure disappeared down the hall, holding up his injured arm. Hilda let out a malevolent laugh. “I see there’s a simple choice now, Lucien. Invite us in and enlighten us, or we’ll be perfectly happy staying here to watch you die.”</p><p>Lucien gritted his teeth. “Fine. You may both come in.”</p><p>Hilda stepped through the barrier, still smirking. “That wasn’t too hard, was it? Where have your manners gone after all these years?”</p><p>Lucien did not respond, and went to sit at the couch. Elijah paused for a minute to walk around the edges of the room, observing the art on the walls. The younger vampire took out his phone and typed a few things, looking annoyed, especially since Hilda was staring at him intently, expecting him to try and do something. When he didn’t, she and Elijah went to sit across from him.</p><p>“My contacts will get back to me if they have any information about a wolf matching your description,” said Lucien simply, leaning onto the table between them to pour himself a scotch. </p><p>Hilda observed the bite in his arm, still oozing. “You’ll be needing Nik’s blood for that. I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to help you once Hayley is safe with us.”</p><p>She expected Elijah to agree, but he was eyeing a woman that Hilda had only just noticed— barely conscious and with dried blood on her neck. Obviously, Lucien had been feeding on her.</p><p>“Oh, feel free to have a drink!” said Lucien pleasantly when he realized they were looking at her. “She's not dead... just <em>mouthy</em>. I compelled her quiet.”</p><p>“You can spare me the counterfeit camaraderie,” said Elijah sharply. “So, you say you're in conflict with those of my sireline. Am I to assume that the Lord Tristan de Martel is up to his usual tricks?”</p><p>The mention of Tristan’s name had taken Hilda out of the loop. She hadn’t heard of anything concerning him in centuries. She thought Lucien might be confused, but he answered as though they had already had this discussion before.</p><p>“This is no quarrel, Elijah!” said Lucien in frustration. “We are on the brink of war! Tristan knows that if he kills Klaus, he will eliminate all his enemies.”</p><p>“By this logic, am I to assume that <em>I</em> am your ultimate target?” inquired Elijah. </p><p>Lucien scoffed. “If I kill you, then I trade all of the money, the women, the jets, for an eternity on the run from Nik and Rebekah, and maybe Hilda here if she’s bored enough.”</p><p>Elijah spread his arms. “Leave the city. No one needs your protection. The white oak is destroyed. We <em>cannot</em> be killed.”</p><p>“You’re wrong,” said Lucien instantly. “Talk to Nik. He's seen the prophecy. Visions of <em>darkness</em> surround your family. You are <em>not</em> immune to death, Elijah. Hilda may be safer than the lot of you— no one has any vendettas against her because hardly anyone has survived to grieve the family members she killed. But even so, some will stop at nothing to see you all destroyed.” He stared at Elijah, who rolled his eyes when Lucien said, “You and Nik are in grave danger… And you don’t seem particularly fazed.”</p><p>“Well, I’m no stranger to death, young Lucien,” replied Elijah. “Or third-rate prophecies for that matter.” He stood, but Lucien jumped up with him. </p><p>“Or maybe immortality has finally soured you?” suggested the younger vampire. “After all, you've abandoned your eternal efforts to save Nik's soul. What's left for the legendary Elijah Mikaelson if not that singular motivation?” Seeing the glare that Elijah sent his way, Lucien turned his attention to Hilda. “I know that you are more well-versed in the possibilities of magic and prophecies. Speak with your brother, he will show you what my seer has shown him, and I promise you, it is <em>not</em> a lie. They will come for your siblings first, and when they have wiped them out, you will be the only one left, sireline or not.”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “We’ll mull it over, darling.” She snatched up the rest of his glass of scotch, downing it before setting the glass down. “Thanks for the drinks.” She looked at Elijah and gestured for him to follow her out the door.</p><p>The sun was already preparing to rise as Elijah and Hilda elected to walk back to the Compound. Neither spoke, thinking over what Lucien had said. It was suspicious to Hilda that Elijah suddenly had nothing to say, almost as though there was something he didn’t want her to know. She tried to determine what it was, but was stumped.</p><p>“How do you know that Tristan’s been causing mischief?” said Hilda quietly as they reached the final block before arriving home. “I haven’t heard anything about him in a very long time.”</p><p>“Niklaus and I have heard word of his actions through various sources,” said Elijah simply. “We never thought to tell you— we assumed you didn’t want to hear about the conflict between sirelines. It’s nothing quite so horrendous. He simply continues to lead The Strix like a cult. You’ve come across their witches before, you’ve seen the spells. Ambitious as always, that Tristan.”</p><p>Hilda clasped her hands together. “Do you think he’s here, too?” she asked a bit nervously. “I haven’t seen Lucien in a thousand years and now he’s just in town? That’s suspicious. Should we expect Tristan and Aurora to come barging in?”</p><p>“I do not know what to expect, but I would advise you to stay alert. Any slight whisper… follow the lead. We don’t know if that so-called prophecy is anywhere near true.”</p><p>“I’ve met seers, ‘Lijah, I know that it’s potentially very real.”</p><p>“We will consult Freya, later,” he suggested. “I do not trust that witch of Lucien’s, but I trust her. If there is anything we can learn, you and Freya will be best at determining what steps we ought to take.”</p><p>He straightened his coat. “Until then, do not dwell on Tristan’s whereabouts. You know that he cannot be trusted. Do not put yourself in a position to get hurt again.”</p><p>If Hilda would have had the White Oak stake in her pocket at that moment, and if she would have known what Elijah had done all those years ago, she would have killed him right then and there.</p>
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<a name="section0045"><h2>45. Chapter 45</h2></a>
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    <p>
  <strong>The Compound had erupted into chaos in the time they’d been gone. </strong>
</p><p>The two siblings walked in to the sound of angry yelling and furniture being broken. They sped into the courtyard beside Freya and Jackson while Hayley and Klaus fought on the balcony high above.</p><p>“NIKLAUS!” yelled Elijah as Hayley hit him hard in the chest. The Original hybrid did not seem to want to fight back.</p><p>“She deserves something better than what we had!” spat Hayley, still shoving Klaus back and ignoring Elijah. “All I have ever wanted for her is something better!” She grew increasingly frustrated that Klaus was simply letting her hit him. “Fight back! FIGHT BACK!”</p><p>But Hilda knew that Klaus was aware that he was in the wrong. How could he bring himself to hit Hayley back when she was completely correct? He had taken her daughter from her and had ruined their relationship as co-parents. </p><p>Klaus had faltered, and Hayley realized that he was looking at something that was behind her. She saw Hope had crawled out of her crib and was toddling along the balcony, looking up at her parents in shock. Hayley looked incredibly guilty as she looked down at herself. She was drenched in blood, but she chose to ignore that, and walked over to her daughter as she walked in her direction.</p><p>“Oh,” said Hayley softly. “She’s walking… when did she start walking?” She picked Hope up and kissed her forehead, holding her close. “I missed it… I missed everything…”</p><p>Still holding her daughter to her chest, Hayley drew several deep breath and made her way to the stairs, descending them slowly, looking as though she might break down crying any second, but holding it in. It was only when she came down to the courtyard level that Hilda became aware of the fact that both Hayley and Jackson were still human, and not wolves. </p><p>“What happened?” said Jackson as he moved forward to hug Hayley and Hope. “Is the curse broken?”</p><p>Hayley cast him an exhausted look. “I'll explain later. We're safe... for now.”</p><p>“Good for you,” said Klaus, having come down as well. “I’ll have your bedroom made up.”</p><p>Hayley glared at him. “The only way that I will stay under your roof is if I'm in a <em>coffin</em>.”</p><p>This angered Klaus. “If you think I will allow Hope out of my protection for a second—”</p><p>“What you’ll allow doesn’t matter, Klaus!” snarled Hayley. “Welcome to a twenty first century custody battle. Moms win them now.”</p><p>Elijah quickly stepped between them. “If I may? The apartments across the street have recently been renovated. I might pay a visit to the management.”</p><p>Klaus was still visibly unhappy by this, and Hilda moved in front of him. “She’ll never be out of earshot. You will be able to see her from the balcony. Calm down.”</p><p>“So we are to listen as my daughter is raised by savages?” he spat.</p><p>Jackson scoffed. “Because everyone here is so civilized?”</p><p>Elijah held his hand up and looked at the Original hybrid. “Brother, you created the problem. This might well be the solution.”</p><p>Hayley nodded immediately. “Put the place in Jackson's name. Klaus won’t be invited in.” She walked off with Jackson and Hope, Elijah following behind. Freya cast Klaus a disappointed look before going to her study. Hilda remained rooted in front of her brother, arms crossed.</p><p>“Are you going to lecture me, sister?” he said weakly, looking sick of everything. “Rest assured, I will not sit still to listen to your incessant jabbering.”</p><p>“I’m not going to lecture you,” she said simply. “You know right from wrong. You know that she deserves one hell of an apology. It’s up to you to decide whether you’re going to perpetuate the antipathy between the two of you, or you’re going to work to fix it. Hope deserves parents who at least respect each other, even if they’re not romantically involved. Do right by Hayley, and fix this. That’s all up to you.”</p><p>When Elijah returned from procuring a suitable apartment for Hayley, Jackson, and Hope, he found Hilda in her room and beckoned her to come with him to where Freya was clasping her blue pendant talisman in hand. “I suppose I was misguided to believe Hayley’s return would ease tensions in this house,” said Freya softly when she heard her younger siblings come in.</p><p>Elijah grinned slightly. “Misguided. Delusional. Refreshingly optimistic.” He tugged at the sleeves of his suit. “Hilda and I have received some unsettling information from Lucien Castle. I don't trust the source, but I... trust <em>you</em>.”</p><p>“What’s the matter?” inquired Freya.</p><p>“A prophecy,” said Hilda. “We need to know if it’s true. Lucien’s witch showed it to Klaus.”</p><p>This meant, of course, that they had to bring Klaus into the room. Neither he nor Elijah looked at each other as Klaus told them about some visions regarding their destruction. Freya decided to have him bleed into a bowl, as he’d fed on the prophetic witch, and her blood could be used to locate the supposed weapon capable of killing an Original.</p><p>Hilda prepared several tall balck candles around a parchment that Freya had preprared, writing the names ‘Elijah,’ ‘Rebekah,’ ‘Klaus’ and ‘Hilda’ in Norse runes. Freya dipped her fingers into the bowl of Klaus’s blood and began to chant, “<em>No mentre le prophecie que la otra ve. No mentre le prophecie que la otra ve…”</em></p><p>The siblings tensed at the sight of blood starting to drip out of Freya’s ears. The house began to shake as their eldest sister continued to chant, her face now contorted and strained as though continuing the spell was causing her immense pain. <em>“No mentre le prophecie que la otra ve. No mentre le prophecie que la otra ve.”</em></p><p>“Freya, stop i!” cried Hilda.</p><p>But she didn’t stop, and the next second, her head fell back, her eyes wide open as though she was seeing something now. The parchment lit on fire and Freya yanked her hands out of the blood, causing the flames to go out.</p><p>“It’s true,” she said grimly as Hilda took a handkerchief to wipe the blood off of the sides of her face. “Klaus… Elijah… Rebekah… you have a terrible shadow over you. If this prophecy is fulfilled, you will all fall, one by friend, one by foe, and one… by family.”</p><p>“Hold on,” said Hilda abruptly as her brothers exchanged nervous looks. “My name wasn’t mentioned in that.”</p><p>“I didn’t see a single vision that indicated that you were in danger,” said Freya, furrowing her eyebrows. “If this is connected to the conflict with the sirelines, it makes perfect sense. You don’t have a line and don’t intend to ever start one. You’re not a threat to them. They know quite well that you are easily separated from your siblings. I can’t see what the weapon is or who wields it, but whoever it is, either will not see you as a threat, or will choose not to hurt you.”</p><p>That was something that left Hilda nervous for the following weeks.</p><p>They had had no real leads. The others were busy, as usual, but Hilda had tried to remain distant, per Freya’s recommendation. Her sister thought that if it was true that Hilda wasn’t in danger of falling with the prophecy, then she ought to continue to lay low, and not get involved in anything.</p><p>Thus, while Klaus dealt with Lucien, who was a suspect in the murders that’d occurred in the city, and while Elijah did who knows what, Hilda helped Hayley and Jackson with babysitting Hope, sometimes accompanied by Freya. The hybrid and wolf were apparently under Davina’s control, as she had temporarily removed the Crescent Curse. Their anger was building up, and they took advantage of the fight gym already created at St. Anne’s Church in order to de-stress themselves.</p><p>Halloween drew nearer, and Hilda felt excited only because Hope was babbling more, and she thought it might be fun to dress her up. She downloaded a fairly new app called <em>Pinterest</em> for ideas, and along with Freya’s magic, they started to think of costumes. </p><p>Two days before Halloween, two things happened. One, Hilda awoke to a text from Alaric.</p><p>
  <em>‘Can we talk? It’s okay if you don’t want to, I won’t hold it against you. Just want to see if you’re okay, and want to apologize.’</em>
</p><p>Biting her lip, Hilda ignored the text at first and went to have breakfast. But later in the afternoon when she was putting Hope down for her nap, she decided to face her fears.</p><p>It was always surprising how quickly Alaric answered her calls.</p><p>“Hey,” he said quietly, his voice so soft that Hilda could still hear how laced with pain his entire body was. “Um… how have you been?”</p><p>“I’ve been as good as can be expected,” she said back, leaning against the balcony of the apartment. “You?”</p><p>“Same here. Damon and Bonnie have been a big help. I’m doing a bit better. I already moved past the denial and anger phase by the time July hit… there was a lot of bargaining and depression these past months while those two were with me… but I think I’ve been able to… accept what happened. To understand that Jo and my twins are not coming back, and that it’s not my fault… or yours. Hilda, I’m really, really, really sorry. I don’t know how many times I need to say it, but I will keep saying it until you beg me to stop, because I said things that were cruel. You didn’t deserve that. I completely ignored how scared you must have felt, seeing Kai there. I know the wedding was already a difficult place to be in but you were there to support us and you tried to save her. You… you did something you’ve never done for anyone else, just for her. I should have thanked you that day instead of harassing you. I can’t claim to be this… this good person when I say things like that. So I’m sorry. If you will accept my apology, sometime in the future…”</p><p>“I forgive you, Ric,” she said immediately, tugging anxiously at a string on her shirt. “You were hurt, and you… you did what I always do. You fixed your anger on the nearest person. I get it, and I don’t hold it against you. I wish this hadn’t happened, I wish I could have saved her. If she had become one of my sirelings… well, I could have dealt with that guilt, but I just wish I could have helped her. She was so beautiful and kind and her and your babies deserved to live. I’m sorry, too, Ric.”</p><p>“Hey, you don’t need to be sorry. You did so much. We didn’t think Kai would do such a thing. I guess… we really should have helped him instead of throwing him in the prison world.”</p><p>“I don’t blame Bonnie for doing it. She was protecting herself and the rest of you and that’s incredibly admirable. But yes… maybe helping him might have been better. In hindsight, it’s best not to dwell on what might’ve been. It will only cause pain and terrible, terrible torment. Things will get better. I know that a loss like this will never go away but there is always a chance to do something worthwhile even after feeling this type of pain. I thought I was going to turn into a bloody slug or something after Kol died the second time.”</p><p>Her voice began to shake. “In those moments where all you feel is that searing pain… of knowing that a part of you has been cut away and is not coming back… all you can think of is how you want release, how you wish for that pain to end. As we saw, Elena and Caroline turned off their humanity when they lost their family. I can’t do that, but I was, perhaps, worse in the sense that I caused others pain to alleviate my own. You tried to hurt yourself and I just want you to know that I’m here for you, and I will always be here for you, just as you have been there for me. This is not the end. This is going to hurt really badly for a long time but there is a lot left to live for, I know it.”</p><p>“Thank you,” he managed. “I just… in that moment I thought that I was done. That there was no reason to continue on anymore. I’m mortal, I’ll die eventually anyway… why continue to live when I lost three people in one day? Her entire Coven died, too. And thankfully my parents weren’t there, or they’d be dead too. I didn’t think to invite them, I didn’t want them to be making comments…”</p><p>“You have a chance now to maybe see if that relationship can be fixed. You have that chance, something I didn’t have with Mikael and Esther, and something Jo was barely going to get to do with Joshua. Take advantage of that. I find that family is, of course, the place we are born into, but it is also the people we choose. My siblings and I don’t always get along but at the end of the day we always back each other up. Even so, my real family is the one I made with Kol and the witches we befriended over the centuries. That’s where we wanted to be, and just know that you have a choice, and you can choose who you consider family and who not. It’s okay to not want to talk to them. But if you do, you have a chance to do it right now. Or if you want to help other families, that’s good, too. You could help students who have no one in their lives but their classmates. You could help orphans and foster children— some of them need to learn that they can pick and choose who they care about because they are so traumatized from being hurt by those who society says are their family members that they lose the ability to see worth in themselves. Find something worthwhile and important to you, and run with it. You have the freedom to do it. Anywhere in the world, even.”</p><p>“That was well said,” Alaric replied. “Just know that you have that freedom, too. If your niece is safe, then you have every freedom to leave. Don’t stay somewhere that hurts you.”</p><p>“I want to stay, this time. Hayley and Jackson are back and I’m growing really close with Freya. Klaus and Elijah are volatile as always but I want to be there for Hope. She’s so sweet. I learn more every day about kids that just fascinates me. They’re not as bad as I thought they were. It makes me feel good to just be here, knowing I’m making a difference. She deserves to have a functional family and if I can help make that happen, I will. Plus, I don’t know how wise it would be to leave. Trouble is brewing here.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“You remember what I told you about my ex? Like the whole story with how we got to be at the de Martel castle and all that?”</p><p>“Um, yes, I do remember.”</p><p>“Well, the servant boy— Lucien— he’s here. And his company was killing wolves in the Bayou. Thankfully, the two Alphas are okay but many Crescents have been lost. And he has some witch who gave this supposed prophecy about our downfall. Freya confirmed it to be true. I’m not included in it— apparently, I’m safe, likely because of the lack of sirelings. But the downfall of the Mikaelsons has been predicted and I don’t want Rebekah or Freya to get hurt. And by default, I ought to protect my brothers, too. Hope needs her father and her uncle, as dysfunctional as they may be.”</p><p>“Just be careful. You don’t know what might actually be happening, and even if the prophecy doesn’t predict your downfall, doesn’t mean you’re completely in the clear. Is your ex… there?”</p><p>“Not to my knowledge, but I wouldn’t doubt that he’s lurking about. Wherever Lucien goes, Tristan and Aurora have a tendency to follow. I wonder how the sibling relationship has gone on between those two. At first, I thought they were twins with how close they were. Most people who don’t know them think they’ve got some weird thing going on, and it really does seem like it. Were it not for the fact that Tristan and I were a thing, I’d’ve thought he and Aurora were pulling some Alabama crap… the problem with her is she’s just like Kol and I. Completely unhinged and temperamental and she’s got all this built up guilt because her mother died giving birth to her. Her father was a creep and never cared for her and Tristan and the servants basically raised her. She needs the support because she is absolutely insane— she’s more psychotic than <em>me</em>, and that’s saying something. Tristan is at her beck and call and always worrying about her because one wrong move and that girl will unleash chaos. I think, if anything, she’s the one obsessed with him, and he just has to go along with it to keep her calm. It’s concerning. He’s quite protective of her.”</p><p>“Be careful. You don’t know what he’s like now. He could try to hurt you to get to one of your brothers.”</p><p>“I will be careful, I promise,” she said gently. She heard Hope begin to fuss. “I have to go,” she said, not wanting him to hear Hope crying in case it triggered some bad memories. “I’ll talk to you later, take care.”</p><p>“Alright, take care, Hilda.”</p><p>She quickly hung up just as Hope let out a piercing wail, and she sped to her side, picking her up and rocking her in her arms. “There, there, darling,” she said soothingly, rubbing her back. “Aunt Hilda’s here, it’s okay.”</p><p>Hope calmed down rather quickly, and Hilda smiled. There was a knock on the door, and she tensed immediately, setting the little girl back down. Who would possibly be coming to visit?</p><p>She moved cautiously to the door and found that she couldn’t sense a presence outside anymore. She opened it and saw only a small envelope on the floor. Kneeling quickly, she snatched it up and shut the door, locking it. It bore a familiar owl on the back, and she tore it open.</p><p>
  <em>‘You are cordially invited to an evening of exquisite excess. The Davilla Estate, 7041 St. Charles Avenue. Midnight.’ </em>
</p><p>She knew immediately it was The Strix. Her heart beat quickly as she turned it over, seeing a personalized note on the back.</p><p>
  <em>‘My dearest Hilda, it would very much please me if you would attend our gathering on Halloween night. If possible, I am eager to speak with you about several things that’ve been left unsaid for a thousand years. Please wear the necklace I gave you, if it is still in your possession. With respect and admiration, Tristan.’</em>
</p><p>Hilda pretended the note didn’t exist. She shoved it in her pocket, her breath hitching as she tried to act as though all was well. The next day, she spoke nothing of it— none of her siblings seemed to know about The Strix gathering. In fact, it wasn’t until Halloween morning when they mentioned it.</p><p>Freya and Hilda had been doing yoga. The younger sister was eager to ignore the invitation, and much to Freya’s delight, had accepted doing some exercise with her.</p><p>“What are you doing here?” said Klaus in surprise when he found them in the upstairs study, legs crossed on individual mats. </p><p>Freya made an amused face. “We live here?”</p><p>“Yes, obviously,” said Klaus. “I just hadn’t realized that you, Freya, were back from wherever it you go to when you leave! Perhaps I was thrown off by the lack of strange gentleman callers perusing the contents of my refrigerator this morning. And you, Hilda, I’m surprised you haven’t yet set up a camp bed in the Kenner apartment, seeing as you spent every waking moment there.”</p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes. “Your concern for our whereabouts is touching.”</p><p>Klaus smirked. “I simply want to know who is here at any given moment! I hardly think that’s too much to ask.”</p><p>“Well,” came a voice from the hallway. The speaker was revealed to be Hayley, followed by Elijah. “As long as we’re taking attendance…”</p><p>“Oh, good!” said Klaus mockingly. “It’s my not-so-loving older brother and my former one-night-stand! What a nice, normal family gathering.”</p><p>“Charming,” said Hayley. “Elijah was just catching me up on how you have no clue which one of your long-lost buddies you can trust and which one is trying to kill you.”</p><p>“Well, clearly what the situation needs is more opinions,” said Klaus snarkily. He glared at his brother. “I assume you told her about the bloody prophecy?”</p><p>Elijah smiled. “I was just getting to that…”</p><p>“Now would be good,” demanded Hayley, crossing her arms.</p><p>“It appears my old mate Lucien has acquired a genuine seer, and in an effort to prove his good intentions, he got her to show us some rather dire visions of future doom,” explained the Original hybrid. “It’s grim stuff, really— not for the faint of heart.”</p><p>Hayley frowned. “Who’s doom are we talking about here? Because if it’s yours, I think we’re all okay with that.”</p><p>Klaus chuckled. “Well, sadly, we’re all on the chopping block, apparently, minus Hilda. But chin up! The witch claims her visions are constantly evolving. So you may just get your wish.”</p><p>“Well, I want to meet this psychic witch,” said Hayley. “Tonight.”</p><p>“What’s tonight?” inquired Freya.</p><p>Elijah looked amused. “The Strix are throwing a gathering, and I have been invited. Is it wrong for me to assume, Hayley, that you intend to be my plus one?”</p><p>The younger hybrid smirked. “That’s right. I’ll go see if Rebekah has some dresses I can wear.”</p><p>She left the room, and Freya followed behind to help her. Hilda swallowed thickly. “If you’re going,” she said quietly, “so am I.”</p><p>“Oh?” said Klaus, a wide grin on his face. “Ah… of course you’ve been invited, Hilly.”</p><p>This seemed to be surprising to Elijah. “You have been?” he asked. “But… how?”</p><p>“You may be their sire,” said Hilda a bit suspiciously, “but I’m Tristan’s ex-girlfriend. Apparently, he wants to talk.”</p><p>“When did you get this invitation?” pressed Elijah.</p><p>“Two days ago. I wasn’t planning on going, but—”</p><p>“You ought not go,” Elijah interrupted. “It doesn’t bode well. He cannot be trusted, and until we’ve surveyed the scene…”</p><p>“Nonsense, Elijah!” said Klaus, an evil glint in his eyes. “Weren’t you just telling me that two days ago, you saw Tristan de Martel?”</p><p>Hilda’s lip twitched. “Is that true, Elijah? You saw him, and you didn’t tell me? And don’t give me bullshit about not wanting to worry me.”</p><p>He hesitated, but nodded. “Yes, I did see him. We merely had a small conversation. I hadn’t the faintest idea he intended to communicate with you again.”</p><p>This seemed to settle the matter. “Well then,” said Hilda, making her way to the door. “It seems I better go find that sapphire evening gown to go with my necklace, I’ll be needing it.”</p>
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<a name="section0046"><h2>46. Chapter 46</h2></a>
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    <p>
  <strong>Hilda dwelled on what’d ‘been left unsaid for a thousand years.’</strong>
</p><p>She had always wondered why Tristan never sought her out. How it was possible that they had never crossed paths in all her travels. What was this big secret? What would she learn tonight?</p><p>She slipped in a tight-fitting, floor length sapphire gown with thin straps running comfortably over her shoulders and a lower than normal cleavage. The sapphire necklace that Tristan had given her, years ago, hung around her neck. She had found earrings to match, and had curled her hair delicately, putting a bit more effort into her makeup than usual. </p><p>She was nervous. She had been tempted to call Alaric, but that might just cause a different problem. Instead, she resorted to only listening to music and her own heartbeat, which thumped faster each hour as the time to go to the Davilla Estate approached.</p><p>Hayley had selected a magnificent off-the-shoulder red dress that flowed freely down to her feet. The hybrid had elected to wear a pair of high heels, but Hilda had merely asked Freya to adjust her dress magically so that she didn’t need to wear more than a small wedge. She wanted to take advantage of the fact that she was just a bit smaller than the average Strix vampire so that she could hide behind them and see Tristan before he saw her. </p><p>She walked into the party on the other side of Elijah. She and her brother had elected to not wear a mask over their eyes, which had been an implied potential addition to their outfits. Hayley had brought a dark one that was attached to a small stick, and as they entered the building, the hybrid held it up. The Originals knew they’d easily be recognized, and there was no point in attempting to conceal their identities. </p><p>The attendees were all donning the fanciest of suits and gowns. Caterers with masks that covered their entire faces were moving around with champagne and finger food. Music filled the main room and beyond, with burlesque dancers on a front stage and suspended in the air. They had on flapper dresses, though significantly more revealing. Several of the guests were already feeding on some of the humans that’d been brought in for their pleasure.</p><p>“Why are they all staring at you?” said Hayley quietly as they got into the main hall, seeing that nearly every vampire was now looking at Hilda, and even more at Elijah. </p><p>Elijah half-smiled and led the two toward the bar across the room. “I’m kind of a big deal around here.”</p><p>“They’re all part of your sireline,” deduced Hayley.</p><p>Elijah nodded. “Most of them, tragically, yes. You see, Hayley, I wanted to assemble minds curious about the world and eager to improve it, along with the time and circumstance to do so. My desire was to create an elite brotherhood devoted to a new, better civilization. It was naive. Eventually, I was forced to abandon them once I realized I'd cultivated a legion of ego-maniacal <em>sociopaths</em>.”</p><p>Hilda snorted a bit, taking a drink and sipping it carefully. She looked back over her shoulder and frowned. “Marcel,” she muttered, making Elijah and Hayley turn around. Sure enough, Marcel Gerard was in his best suit, and in the company of Aya, a very familiar face.</p><p>“He’s going to be initiated,” said Elijah lowly, and Hilda narrowed her eyes at Aya, who seemed completely carefree.</p><p>As the music continued to play, Elijah offered Hayley his hand, pulling her to dance. Hilda moved through the curious crowd, many of whom were still looking at her intently. She slipped behind several people, and scanned until she concluded that Tristan was not in any of the main downstairs rooms. Perhaps, he was awaiting elsewhere to make a grand entrance. That wouldn’t be too far-fetched.</p><p>And she was right. The music changed suddenly,a nsd several of the caterers came out with trays of champagne, all with a single butter knife beside them. Hilda was behind a group of taller vampires, and looked up at the main staircase as Tristan descended.</p><p>Her breath hitched immediately. He looked just as she remembered him, only more attractive, if that was possible. His blue eyes scanned over the crowd as if searching for Hilda, and she instinctively shrank back a bit more. He had on a fine suit and his daylight ring was an extravagant piece of jewelry that Hilda remembered seeing in the de Martel castle long ago. He had on the same devilish smirk that’d made her swoon so often in the past.</p><p>
  <em>“Tristan…” She was moaning and arching her back as he moved under the sheets. He was making a big show of kissing her quite literally everywhere.</em>
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  <em>“Beautiful,” he replied, dragging his lips over her thighs. “Exquisite…” he moved her onto her side, bringing his mouth up her back and making her whimper. “Strong and selfless and absolutely perfect…”</em>
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  <em>“You’re torturing me,” she whined as he came back up, smirking and pressing himself to her and now attaching his lips to her shoulder.</em>
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  <em>“Is it torture for you to hear all the things I love about you?” he said, bringing his hand down her sides, to her leg, which he lifted. She let out a soft moan as they reconnected, and he moved her body into his, watching her grip the sheets. “Then, perhaps, I’ll torture you some more… You, Hilda Mikaelson, are a goddess walking this Earth… the goddess of all good things… of women who are powerful and assertive… and of dancing. You are quite good at dancing…”</em>
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  <em>“Am I?” she panted, reaching her hand back to grasp him. “Tristan… please…”</em>
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  <em>“Please what? Continue telling you how amazing you are? You never like to listen, but I certainly like to tell you…”</em>
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  <em>“Kiss me,” she begged. “Kiss me, please.”</em>
</p><p>The caterers tapped the butter knives against the champagne glasses to draw the attention of the attendees, making Hilda flinch ever so slightly.</p><p>Tristan stopped at the bottom of the stairs, addressing everyone present. “Distinguished friends,” he said, “welcome. It’s so rare that we're able to come together like this to revel for one night in the company of true equals. Now, I'd like to take a moment to welcome a very special guest— Marcel Gerard.”</p><p>Marcel stepped forward, nearer to where Hayley and Elijah were, as the crowd clapped for him. “Thank you,” he said. “I’m honored. Thank you.”</p><p>Tristan smiled back at him. “Of course, before we tell Marcel all of our secrets, there's one small piece of business to which we must first attend. We must determine his worth.”</p><p>Marcel frowned, looking confused. “That's funny... I seem to recall you being the one knocking on <em>my</em> door.”</p><p>“You’ll notice, Mr. Gerard,” said Tristan smoothly, “that over the course of the evening, someone has managed to take something quite dear to you... Your daylight ring.”</p><p>Marcel looked down at his hand, and Hilda and Elijah shared a look from across the room. Tristan continued, “The test is quite simple. First, you need to deduce the identity of the thief. Then, you are simply to take back what is yours... Although, I doubt the prize will be easily relinquished. After all, despite our refinement, we're still a rather violent bunch.” He took a champagne glass and lifted it. “In victory, you become one of us. In failure, you meet your death. You have a few hours until dawn. I wish you the best of luck.”</p><p>Hilda remained hidden as she watched the party go back to normal. Her eyes scanned Tristan’s figure as he moved toward Elijah, shaking his hand and greeting Hayley. “I admit, I am a bit disappointed,” she heard Tristan say. “I expected Hilda would choose to attend. But of course, I suspected that she would indeed decline the invitation after… what transpired.”</p><p>Hilda chose this moment to speed through the crowd and appear at her brother’s side, making Tristan look at her in surprise. “I’m right here,” she said flatly. “I’m surprised none of your friends told you that they saw me here.”</p><p>Tristan was speechless. He took a step back and looked her up and down, and put his hands together as though he was praying, bringing them to cover his mouth as he continued to scan her figure. “You wore my necklace,” he said quietly. </p><p>“You told me to, and I’d been meaning to wear this dress anyway,” said Hilda. She put her hands on her hips. “Well? Are you going to ask me to dance or are we going to stand here like imbeciles?”</p><p>Tristan smiled and took her hand, sinking onto one knee to kiss it before straightening up and pulling her onto the dance floor. “You look incredible,” he said, placing his free hand around her waist. </p><p>She cast him a tight-lipped smile. “When are we going to chat?”</p><p>“Patience, darling, as soon as we see whether Marcel will be a good fit, I will take you somewhere so that we may speak freely without prying ears.”</p><p>He spun her around, and when they linked again, she purposely slammed her hand against his chest, making him chuckle. “I don’t blame you for being hostile. I assure you, however, that those cruel words when we parted were not from my heart, but my corrupted mine.”</p><p>“What’s that supposed to mean?” she said defensively. “You told me loud and clear that you didn’t want me anymore. Why would I trust you now?”</p><p>
  <em>Tristan came forward and seized her by her wrists, sneering into her face, “I want nothing to do with you, stupid girl. You really thought that any of this was real? That I gave a damn? I can assure you, I didn’t.”</em>
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  <em>Hilda had gulped. “Why… why would you say something like that?” </em>
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  <em>He shook her roughly. “Don’t you get it? I don’t care about you! I simply needed a woman to fulfill my needs.”</em>
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  <em>She mustered up her strength and knocked him back. “Don’t you dare speak to me that way!” she cried, tears running down her cheeks. “I gave you my virtue! I let— I let you be my first everything! How could you?!”</em>
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  <em>“It was quite easy,” he said snidely. “You’re an idiotic girl who knows nothing and it shows in the fact that you came, thinking I’d ever want to accompany you anywhere. I don’t desire you. I never did. Now get out of my sight, I never wish to see you again, you wretched abomination of nature. It sickens me that you were my only option.”</em>
</p><p>“I’m not a trusting person anymore, Tristan,” she said bluntly. “In hindsight, our relationship was incredibly toxic.”</p><p>“Was it toxic for us to constantly walk around the grounds together and speak of the things we wanted to do?” he said, bringing his hand up her back respectfully when he felt the way she tensed in his hold. </p><p>“Maybe the in-between wasn’t so bad,” she muttered. “But the beginning? I didn’t know it then, but that first time we slept together, you just pressured me into it. That was wrong. And when it ended…”</p><p>“I promise you, Hilda,” he said, pulling her closer and dropping his voice to the quietest of whispers, “I didn’t do that off of my own accord.”</p><p>“Oh, yes, because a demon possessed you into forcing me to sleep with you,” she said snarkily. </p><p>“What you need to know, Hilda,” said Tristan, “is that I have never, for one second, stopped loving you. If I had the choice, if I had…” he looked up a bit and quickly deviated. “Well, your brothers would not have liked for me to seek you out.”</p><p>She looked at him suspiciously. “Are you not going to—”</p><p>There was a howling sound, and the doors opened to reveal a very drunk looking Klaus and Lucien, followed by four women in sexy Halloween costumes. “I’m ready for my medication!” yelled Klaus as the music stopped.</p><p>“My God,” said Lucien, stumbling in and holding onto one of the women for support. “It’s a room full of Elijahs…”</p><p>“I had the exact same nightmare once!” said Klaus, making the entire group of gate-crashers laugh hysterically. </p><p>Lucien tapped the shoulder of one of the women, who had on a fuchsia corset and matching bob wig with a black mask over her eyes. “Go and grab us a drink, love! Feel free to fetch one for yourself.”</p><p>“One for me, please!” Klaus slurred. “And one for her, and her, and her, and her….”</p><p>The woman walked off, and the two men shouted, “Tristan!”</p><p>“Tristan, come out, come out!” beckoned Lucien. “Wherever you are… unless, of course, you’re afraid!”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” said Tristan, letting go of Hilda. “Please, excuse me.” He stepped into the clear for the men to see him. “You should, uh, move along. You’re not welcome here.”</p><p>“Oh,” said Klaus, feigning offense. “Oh, okay… we— we’re not welcome here…” he plucked up a champagne glass from the nearest serving platter and walked up to Trsitan. “Or maybe <em>you</em> should move along before I make you cry in front of all your little friends! Haha!”</p><p>Tristan was mildly amused. “My concern is for your companions. They appear out of sorts without a shiny pole to writhe upon.”</p><p>Lucien giggled drunkenly. “Ohhh… he’s suggesting that you’re exotic dancers!” he told the women. “Which, to him, is an insult—” he gestured to the burlesque dancers, “if not <em>hypocritical</em>. But, don't take it personally, love. He finds all work demeaning. The only dignified way to accumulate wealth is <em>by birth</em>.” He stood right in front of Tristan and extended his index finger, tapping his nose. “Boop! Isn’t that right, Tristan?” he said as Klaus laughed hysterically at this.</p><p>“Niklaus,” said Elijah, stepping forward to be in front of his brother.</p><p>“What is it?” muttered Klaus, stumbling to meet him.</p><p>Elijah rolled his eyes. “Oh, you're hammered. Which should come as very little surprise to anyone here, but it <em>does</em>hamper the festivities somewhat. So, could I recommend that you find the nearest exit?”</p><p>“Just—” began Klaus.</p><p>“Yes,” said Elijah patiently, “and could you take your playthings with you, too?”</p><p>Klaus shoved his glass of champagne into Elijah’s hand, staggering deeper into the ballroom. “You know,” he said loudly, “I used to find it insulting that I was barred from your special little club. But now, I realize that I lack the flexibility to become a member— I could <em>never</em> get my head far enough up my own ass.” He bowed dramatically, making Elijah and Tristan share an annoyed look. Lucien and their companions were absolutely delighted as they watched Klaus take back the champagne glass and down it, pretending to be disgusted by it. “Cheap. Come on…” he told his friends. “Let’s go. This party’s dead anyway.”</p><p>The group left, howling and laughing loudly the entire way. Tristan let out an exasperated sigh and returned to Hilda’s side. “I apologize,” he said. “I must get the initiation underway… you are welcome to go upstairs and relax if you do not wish to watch. I promise, as soon as it is over, we will talk.”</p><p>“I’ll watch,” she said simply, though she found herself smiling.</p><p>When the time arrived for Marcel to prove himself, Hilda followed her brother and Hayley upstairs to where many of The Strix were already waiting.</p><p>“Mr. Gerard!” said Tristan cheerfully. “It’s time.”</p><p>“You’re pushing up the clock?” said Marcel. “I have another hour.”</p><p>“And I’m afraid  that an inability to improvise is the most common of failings,” said Tristan. “Either you have an answer, or you don't.”</p><p>Marcel paused for a moment and looked around the room. “Aya,” he said firmly. “Aya took my ring.”</p><p>Aya shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have your ri—”</p><p>“Hold up,” said Marcel. “I said you <em>took</em> it. I didn't say you still have it. See, after you lifted it off me, you gave it to my man Mohinder over there.” </p><p>The man called Mohinder held up the ring, and Tristan smiled. “Well done! Of course, as you know, that was only half the challenge.” He moved to Marcel and patted his shoulder as Aya beckoned for everyone to make space for a fight. </p><p>Hilda tensed as Mohinder and Marcel faced each other. “There’s no shame in dying at the hands of one’s superior,” said Mohinder.</p><p>Marcel smirked. “There's not much glory in it, either.”</p><p>They practically tore apart the room. Mohinder was clearly much stronger, and he tossed Marcel around as though he were a rag doll. They broke through a plaster wall and went into a smaller room, putting each other in chokeholds and throwing debris everywhere.</p><p>It would have seemed to anyone that Marcel was the clear loser. He was in a hold, unable to move. Mohinder looked triumphant as he bit into Marcel’s neck, feeding on him and making Marcel yell out. Mohinder held his throat and held up a stake, preparing to finish him off. “You fought with honor,” he said. “Embrace the nobility of this end.”</p><p>“I will if you will,” panted Marcel. “Or do you still not know? You must have tasted it in my blood…” he chuckled weakly as Mohinder wobbled, looking a bit uncomfortable. “Oh, now you're starting to feel it, aren't you? That burning sensation in your gut? Wolf's venom. A going-away gift from me. I may not have beaten you, but you lost all the same.” Mohinder started to gag, squirming uncomfortably. “I suggest you make your peace,” continued Marcel. “We’re both dead men walking.”</p><p>“A desperate ploy!” yelled Mohinder furiously. “A lie!”</p><p>Marcel lifted his sleeve to reveal a fresh werewolf bite, and Hilda immediately saw Hayley grin slightly. Marcel laughed, and used all of his strength to pin Mohinder on the wall instead, holding the stake to his heart before facing the crowd of Strix. “I don’t know why they want you dead,” he said to Mohinder as he looked around. “But clearly, they do.”</p><p>He released the man and went up to Tristan and Aya. “Why else tell me all about his little feeding habits, or give me a taste of his technique when you came into my gym the other day? All I had to do was be <em>observant</em>. But, I'm done picking up your bread crumbs. You want him dead? You're gonna have to do it yourself. As far as I can see, the only thing he's done to deserve it is picking his friends poorly.”</p><p>Marcel stumbled off to the side, and Hayley caught him immediately, holding him upright. Tristan looked very pleased with this, and walked over to Mohinder, who was starting to spit out blood. He held his face, patting his shoulder before abruptly ripping his heart out, and letting both the heart and the body fall onto the floor. “You chose well,” he told Marcel, sounding proud. “Now, I assure you, he <em>did</em> deserve it. He's been plotting unspeakable crimes against his sworn brothers and sisters. Of course, you couldn't have known. Beating such a worthy opponent is proof of your strength and courage, but your restraint, your refusal to kill without cause, demonstrates a <em>rare</em> integrity. You see, Marcel Gerard... This was the test.” He bent down to take Marcel’s daylight ring out of Mohinder’s pocket and handed it to its owner. “Welcome to The Strix. Provided, of course, you survive your own gambit.”</p><p>Hayley hoisted Marcel up and sped out of the room, followed by Elijah. The Strix began to disperse and head back to the party, and Tristan came to Hilda, offering her his arm. “Shall we?”</p><p>He led her to an elegant room, similar to the one he’d had in the de Martel castle. He went to a table on the side and prepared them drinks. Hilda went to sit on the desk near the window, and once Tristan handed her the drink, he stood in front of her, sipping calmly. “I ask,” he said gently, “that you don’t interrupt. I will tell you everything, and I will let you ask any questions you want. Before I start, I would like to stay to you, Hilda, that although there is obvious tension between the sirelines, you have absolutely nothing to fear. I will always protect you from harm, and I will make sure Lucien doesn’t dare try anything. You have my word that you won’t be hurt.”</p><p>He swirled the drink in his hand. “What do you know,” he murmured, “of how you all found out about compulsion?”</p><p>Hilda furrowed her brows. “I just recall being told by my brothers that it was possible. I tried it, and it worked. I didn’t think much of it.”</p><p>Tristan bit his lip. “The truth, my darling, is that Elijah was the first to learn of it. You recall that you and your brother, Kol, were feasting quite a bit in the nearby village. Elijah sought to separate the two of you. It was easy, once he saw I was interested in you. I already intended to forge a relationship with you. Elijah had grown angry when he heard a servant gossipping about you and I getting intimate, which was not true— we had yet to even kiss. He demanded I tell him the truth, fearing I was hurting you. I told him things with such accuracy that I didn’t understand how it was possible. I had not intended to tell him about all the conversations we had had up to that point. </p><p>“Elijah realized the rumors were fake, but he also realized that you were quite attached to me. He understood that he had compelled me. And so, he told me to entice you. To keep you occupied, to leave you obsessed with me. He told me to use any means necessary, to initiate an attachment that you wouldn’t easily let go of. He said that I ought to continue to pursue you even if you objected. I am certain he meant for me to merely court you, but that night when you came to my bedroom… I wasn’t in control. I wanted to stop when I saw you were not enjoying it, and my mind didn’t let me. It saw that moment and saw you were objecting, and made me continue. </p><p>“Later, it was not a problem… you did it willingly, but I could not tell you the truth. The relationship was genuine, Hilda, I promise you that. But the end was not. Your brother knew Mikael was upon you and he knew you and Niklaus sought to bring Aurora and I with you. Thus… he compelled me, and he compelled Rory. We said horrid things to you and Niklaus so that you would leave without us. I never meant to break our relationship off. I wanted to go with you. If it were up to me, I would have run away with you, I would have married you, traveled anywhere you wanted to go.”</p><p>Slow tears were falling down her face at this revelation, and she watched him get onto his knees, taking her hands apologetically, as if submitting to let her decide whether she believed him or not. “I swear to you, Hilda, I have loved you since the day I saw you, and had I not been compelled, I would have sought you out. But I knew your brothers were convinced that I hurt you, and they would not let me be near you. I knew, eventually, that I had to let you go— I wouldn't dare try to ruin your happiness when you thought so poorly of me. I decided perhaps you were better off with someone else, someone who hadn’t hurt you so, even involuntarily.”</p><p>Hilda swallowed hard and blinked away several tears. “You mean,” she whispered, her chest painfully tight, “that this entire time… it was Elijah who…”</p><p>Tristan nodded grimly. “I expect he didn’t want you to come. He knew I would tell you. I saw him the other day and I firmly told him I wanted to tell you the truth. He didn’t wish for me to, but he didn’t kill me, either, and I knew I had to invite you, I had to let you know what had really happened. I never would have ended our relationship, Hilda. I adored you then and I adored you still.”</p><p>Hilda started to sob, and she pulled her hand away to cover his face. “How could he do something like that?” she managed hoarsely, too emotionally overwhelmed to even think of being angry and throwing a tantrum. “I’ve been traumatized for years. I thought no one could ever love me… that <em>I</em> was the problem. And years later when I was nearly… nearly assaulted… I haven’t been able to… with anyone…”</p><p>Tristan had a pained look in his eyes as he stood and cupped her face in his hands. “I am so sorry, my darling,” he whispered. “I am. I should have been there to protect you.” He brushed the hair out of her face. “You were never the problem. You were perfect, and anyone would be lucky to be with you. You are magnificent and you are capable of being loved. I have loved you more deeply than anyone I have ever met. I promise you, you are worthy of so much and you deserve the world.”</p><p>She stood and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a passionate kiss. Instantly, he picked her up, hands tight on her hips as he pulled her to his bed, setting her down and kissing back with hunger, already preparing to undo her dress.</p><p>“Tristan, wait,” she whimpered, making him let go instantly. “I haven’t… I’m afraid.”</p><p>“Then we don’t have to do anything,” he said instantly, sitting back, and taking her hand. “You decide, my darling. I will be open for anything you would like. If you wish to only chat, I will enjoy it all the same. What matters now is that you know the truth and I am never letting you go again.” </p><p>Hilda put her hands on his chest, tracing her fingers over the buttons of his shirt. “You’re the only person I’ve ever been with,” she whispered. “And I want… I want to. I just… need you to go really slowly. I want to try it. If you’ll be patient, if you’ll be understanding if I go berserk…”</p><p>“Anything you need, my love,” he said, cupping her face to kiss her as she unbuttoned his shirt. He didn’t move at all, letting her be the one in control. He let her undress him, and respectfully pulled away when she stood, slipping off her dress. She was nervous, but after all these years, that safety she felt with him had not faded away. She connected their lips again and unbuckled his pants, her breathing becoming more erratic. In between kisses, he reassured her, he let her know that they could stop at any time. That was what she needed, and it helped her feel like she was not going to get hurt. She pulled him on top of her, and as it began, he was gentle and sweet, stopping when she told him to, and continuing only when she verbally insisted on it. </p><p>Hilda had forgotten how good it could feel. This is what it should be like. He was understanding and kind and it helped her feel completely comfortable. It brought her back into blissful memories that were at thousand years old, and she whimpered in pleasure, wrapping her legs around his waist as she kissed him, feeling his body moving over hers. He cared only to make her feel good, neglecting his own needs and letting his hands and mouth move in places that he knew would put her at ease. They got back into their routine, and for the first time in one thousand years, Hilda wasn’t afraid, and she let him know, after several slow moments, that it was okay to unleash.</p><p>And when he did, she saw stars, and all she cared about was him, no one else.</p><p>
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  <em>Happy 500 pages, and let's remember <strong>consent is always key</strong>. If y'all are getting frisky with someone, they should be respectful of your limits! If you want to stop, they should not hesitate to do so, and vice versa. Be careful out there, and always try to build healthy relationships :)</em>
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<a name="section0047"><h2>47. Chapter 47</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>A month had quite nearly passed since she and Tristan had reunited. </strong>
</p><p>Hilda had refused to return to the Compound, knowing she would rain destruction on it if she came in contact with Elijah. Tristan had been more than happy to let her stay with him.</p><p>Freya had brought her some of her things. Hilda had been given a separate room, not that that was really necessary, since she spent every night in Tristan’s bed, anyway. She only went out to see Hope at the Kenner apartment, but did not try to come across any of her other siblings. It was clear Freya wished for Hilda to be with them, but she would not stand to be anywhere near her elder brother. </p><p>Alaric had called her two days after Halloween, just to check up on her. She’d been walking around the Davilla Estate when she picked up the call.</p><p>“How have things been?” he said, sounding better than before.</p><p>“They’ve been alright,” she said. She hadn’t yet told him what happened on Halloween. “How do you feel?”</p><p>“A bit better. Damon’s keeping me really busy, almost like he’s afraid one of us is going to lose our minds if we don’t do something. With Elena asleep… poor guy has nothing else to do. But tell me, how was the party? I was a bit worried that something went wrong.”</p><p>“It was… overwhelming. Fun, and all that, but I learned a lot of things that made me… really hate my brother.”</p><p>“What do you mean? What happened?”</p><p>“Er… how do I say this bluntly— Elijah’s the reason Tristan and I broke up.”</p><p>“But… how?”</p><p>“He compelled him to break up with me. He’s the reason he said such mean things. He did the same to Aurora, to make her break it off with Klaus… I haven’t seen him but I can’t imagine how he’ll react if he learns the truth. Elijah just did… several things that ruined us. Klaus and I were both so convinced we were unlovable for all these centuries. That first major heartbreak made us terrible. It was that pain that kept me from turning people, you know. I just thought… I’m going to live forever and I’m going to feel pain this badly because of my vampiric nature… why would I want someone else to go through that? That, and, well, killing just helped me get my anger out.”</p><p>“So from what I’m gathering, Elijah’s still alive?”</p><p>“He is, because I don’t intend to go and see him. I’m staying here… with Tristan.”</p><p>“Oh.” Alaric immediately frowned, and he was glad she couldn’t see it. </p><p>“Why? What’s the matter?”</p><p>“I mean, I just imagine you’re letting that anger build up by not unleashing it right away.”</p><p>“Ugh, I know… but I don’t want to go and trash my home. I’m calm here, so I’m staying.”</p><p>Alaric pursed his lips. “Well, is he treating you alright?”</p><p>“He is,” she said, finding herself blushing. At that moment, Alaric was simply her friend. Her feelings for him seemed to have evaporated with the revelation that she and Tristan had never been meant to be apart. “It’s been… rather eventful.”</p><p>Alaric wasn’t sure why this made him so angry, but it did, and he squeezed the phone in his hand. He tried to play it off as though he was interested as her best friend, but really, he was dreading what he was about to find out. “So you two—?”</p><p>“Yep,” said Hilda, a dreamy look on her face. “That was worth a thousand years of waiting. He was so patient and sweet. He said we didn’t have to, but I really wanted to, especially after what I found out.”</p><p>She continued to talk about it, but Alaric wasn’t listening. He muted himself so she wouldn’t hear him gritting his teeth and swearing loudly. Why was he so cross? She had every right to sleep with whoever she wanted to sleep with. In fact, he should be proud of her for feeling comfortable enough to push past her trauma after so many years. She had shown tremendous growth and it should have been something to celebrate. She wasn’t held back anymore, and she was comfortable with her body again. Instead, he found himself picturing that he was punching Tristan right in his stupid face…</p><p>“Ric!” said Hilda, now changing the subject. “Oh, I forgot to mention, I get to train with The Strix members here. So I am getting my anger out pretty well. They’re some very old vampires, so I’m meeting a good match. And Tristan spars with me, too, it’s very therapeutic. Though, he can’t stay focused very much…”</p><p>Alaric forced a chuckle when he unmuted himself. He had never been able to concentrate when he sparred with her either, in the past. That day before he became a Professor… his mind had certainly been wandering to places that had nothing to do with their training. Any person attracted to women would have been distracted around her. She was gorgeous and strong, the physical embodiment of a goddess. If Alaric didn’t know any better, Hilda was the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares. “I can imagine,” he said. “I bet you leave him flat on his ass every time.”</p><p>“Well, yes, he’s not as strong as me, not even after all these years. I mean, I can pin Elijah down, so pinning Tristan down is very simple.”</p><p>Alaric tried to stay positive. “As long as he treats you right, that’s what matters.”</p><p>“Ooh, yes, he’s excellent— I told him all about what happened with Kol yesterday and he offered to help me bring him back! The Strix Coven is very adept to such spells and he says if I want to work with them on a spell, I can do it, and he’ll make sure they do it without asking for a price. The Strix usually ask for a price… so I think I might be able to get my brother back. As mad as I am with Elijah, this has taken a pretty good turn….”</p><p>Alaric zoned out again as she kept explaining the contents of the spell, something he wouldn’t have understood anyway. He had never felt so useless. He couldn’t have ever given her that. He didn’t know anything about magic. Tristan… Tristan could give her back the only person who really understood her. He could help her manage her anger. Not to mention the two had history— they knew each other incredibly well. And she trusted him, and felt safe around him— safe enough to be intimate with someone again after abstaining for a thousand years. On top of everything, Tristan was a vampire. </p><p>Alaric could only ever dream of giving her such happiness. He hated being a vampire, and now he was mortal, and Hilda could never enjoy that. He couldn’t be a good sparring partner. He couldn’t bring back her brother. He wouldn’t be able to help her if she lost control. They hadn’t known each other all that long, either.</p><p>“... and then there’s the whole prophecy ordeal,” Hilda was saying. “I think that’s why it said I wasn’t in danger. If the prophecy has to do with Tristan, of <em>course</em> I’m safe, he wouldn’t ever let anyone hurt me. And…” she realized Alaric was oddly quiet. “Sorry, I’ve been talking too much, I ought to give you a turn.”</p><p>“No, it’s alright,” he managed, trying to smile. “It’s good to see you happy, Hilda. Or hear you, at least… can’t actually see you right now.”</p><p>“You can always visit. Tristan will be happy to meet you.”</p><p>Alaric certainly didn’t want to meet Tristan. He’d feel very inadequate standing in front of one of the oldest vampires since the Originals. “Sure,” he said, pretending this sounded nice. “I can’t guarantee I’ll want to travel anytime soon, but maybe. I think I need to kind of… feel normal here in Mystic Falls again.”</p><p>“We could always come and visit you!”</p><p>No, he wanted <em>only</em> Hilda to visit. He didn’t want anything to do with Tristan.</p><p>“Only if you’re willing,” he said instead, ignoring his jealous thoughts. </p><p>“It would be good to see you, Ric. Tristan thinks very highly of you.”</p><p>“Oh… you told him?”</p><p>“Just that you’re my best friend, you know. I didn’t mention anything else because I didn’t know if you would want me to.”</p><p>Okay, good, he didn’t need to be worried that Tristan would murder him without Hilda’s knowledge. “That’s good, thanks,” he told her. “Glad to know that he’s impressed even when he hasn’t met me.”</p><p>“Tristan values wit, and you’re very witty. If Harry Potter were real, you’d be a Ravenclaw.”</p><p>Alaric tried to laugh. “And you?”</p><p>“Hmm, I think I’d be a Slytherin. Elijah can be Voldemort… he’s a prat. He’s been trying to come and see me here, but Tristan won’t let him.”</p><p>There, another thing. What could Alaric do if her brothers were bothering her? He didn’t stand a chance against them. How could he protect her if her family was mistreating her?</p><p>“That’s nice of him,” he said, wondering why he kept acting as though he was fine with this. But he knew deep down he couldn’t just tell her that he felt jealous. What would happen then? The last thing he needed was to cause a problem when she’d just rekindled her relationship with the first man she ever loved. </p><p>“Yes… it’s just worrisome, still. We found out yesterday that that seer witch of Lucien’s was poisoned, so we don’t know any more specifics about the prophecy. Tristan reckons Lucien did away with her because he was worried that someone would disprove the prophecy’s existence.”</p><p>Alaric didn’t know how much longer he could stomach hearing Tristan’s name. It felt so wrong to hear her talking about someone else with such affection. A year ago… <em>‘Wow, it’s really been a year since we were a thing,’</em> thought Alaric… a year ago, she spoke of him that way. But then, what might’ve happened, had she known earlier that Tristan had not meant to break up with her? Alaric assumed she'd have picked Tristan in a heartbeat. Who wouldn’t pick him?</p><p>“Listen,” he said suddenly, looking down at his watch even though she couldn’t see him doing it. “I think I have to go, Damon’s got something to talk about regarding Lily and her Heretics making camp in the Salvatore Boarding House, so I think I need to get going.”</p><p>“Sure,” she said, suspecting nothing. “Be safe! We’ll talk soon.”</p><p>He had hardly called her in the past month, and he felt terribly for it. But somehow, he knew she wasn’t missing him so much. He still texted her every day (this was much easier than trying to keep his voice steady when she spoke about Tristan) but he hadn’t tried to hear her voice anymore. He knew it would only make him feel more jealous, and he hated that he felt that way. Was it disrespectful to Jo?</p><p>He had tried to remember his almost-wife. He forced himself into the living room to watch the tape of the wedding, just up until he finished saying his vows. He couldn’t stand to watch any further, despite the fact the camera kept rolling even after the explosion. It felt wrong for him to be thinking of Hilda and not Jo. How he wished that he could have kept her safe...</p><p>Hilda had been preoccupied with other things. A week before Thanksgiving, she started to feel ill for the first time in centuries. She had kept it secret, of course, not wanting to admit to anyone that she had thrown up every day, either in the mornings or afternoons. She assumed, perhaps, that The Strix food wasn’t sitting well. Tristan brought her trays upon trays of delicious food and she was not accustomed to eating so much. </p><p>However, she couldn’t help herself. She felt so bloody hungry every day that she couldn’t stick to the small portions she usually went with. She was feeding more than usual and she didn’t know why. She thought it was the stress— the itch to hurt Elijah. She was bottling up all that rage, and it wasn’t doing any wonders for her health.</p><p>But then, why was it making her so bloody tired, too? Twice, she’d nearly collapsed, feeling suddenly dizzy and exhausted. Tristan had caught her, both times, and had let her feed from his wrist, thinking she had overexerted herself in their training. How could anyone know what was really wrong with her? It was the most unexpected thing that could have happened to a vampire, even more so to an Original. </p><p>She distracted herself from it, as she usually did. Aurora, apparently, had been in town since Halloween, and Hilda learned through Freya that Aurora had met Klaus. She found out that Klaus had learned of Elijah’s compulsion to Aurora, which left a rather sore spot. She heard, again from Freya, that Klaus and Elijah had destroyed the courtyard in the fight that ensued. Hilda was tempted to go have a go, but she was now worried. If she kept feeling ill, maybe entering a fight wasn’t a good idea.</p><p>Alaric had found Valerie Tulle watching the wedding video one night in his apartment, when he and Caroline had brought her there after an ordeal he preferred not to think about. His first instinct was to tell her to turn it off, but she seemed so focused that he couldn’t help but be intrigued. </p><p>“They weren’t sending him away,” Valerie whispered to Alaric and Caroline. “They were trying to save the next generation of Gemini twins….” she looked up at Alaric. “I think your babies are still alive.”</p><p>He had been shaking with anticipation as she set up the Locator Spell. “Twins are the lifeblood of the Gemini Coven. If a pregnant mother is in danger, then the transfer is our magical fail-safe. It's rarely used, but used nonetheless.” She took a knife and beckoned for Alaric’s hand as she smoothed out the map. “I need your blood.” He allowed her to cut in, and she gestured for him to drip it. </p><p>The three had been sitting around a table. The map faced Valerie and Caroline, while Alaric was on the other side. Valerie sat closest to where Oregon and California were on the map, while Caroline sat closer to where Florida was. The blood was made to drip over Indonesia, which according to Valerie, was the farthest geographical point from Mystic Falls.</p><p>The Heretic began to chant, “<em>Phasmatos quare infantatum, Phasmatos quare filios, Ado finet terraeum, Nunc temos rogamus. Combutis et sanguinem. Phasmatos quare infantatum…”</em></p><p>The blood began to move. Caroline watched, eyes wide as Valerie and Alaric kept their eyes closed for the spell. The blood was moving toward the United States from Indonesia… through the west… then directly toward Caroline. “This isn’t working,” she said irritably, thinking Valerie was just giving Alaric false hope. She put her hand on the map, and it lit on fire. </p><p>Valerie’s eyes opened, and she looked at Caroline in shock. “Not possible,” she said, thinking of what this meant. “The babies… they are inside of you, Caroline.”</p><p>At first, this had made sense. Alaric had been tempted to tell Hilda, but he had refrained from it. No, he chose to let her be happy with Tristan instead. But the next day, after several pregnancy tests, Caroline did not appear to be pregnant. Valerie suggested to do an ultrasound, and off they went, but nothing was found. Even when Valerie tried to undo a potential Cloaking Spell, there was no sign of the twins. </p><p>“You haven’t been feeling any potential symptoms of pregnancy?” she said in disbelief to Caroline.</p><p>Caroline shook her head. “No. Would I even feel anything, if I was…? I mean, I’m a vampire.”</p><p>“Yes, you would. We need to do the Locator Spell again. Something happened when you touched the map. You had your eyes open… did you see where the blood stopped when you touched the map?”</p><p>Caroline scrunched her face up trying to remember. “Well, it was headed right for me, and it had just crossed the border of Louisiana—”</p><p>Valerie let out a gasp. “Oh dear— oh dear—” she covered her forehead as she tried to think. “But of <em>course!</em> The answer was right in the video! You, Caroline, you were incapacitated when they started to chant, but she was completely alert… she was trying to save Jo… and it makes perfect sense, from what you told me, Alaric, she was the strongest one present. An Original can’t be killed even if their heart is ripped out. Of <em>course</em> the Coven put the twins into her.”</p><p>“Wait,” said Alaric, holding up his hands, his eyes widening. “Are you saying—?”</p><p>“The map lit on fire because the blood reached Louisiana— she’s in New Orleans!” said Valerie, as though her mind was exploding. “Hilda Mikaelson cannot die, meaning the twins would be perfectly safe inside of her until it came time for them to be born!”</p><p>Caroline covered her mouth in shock. “You mean that— that Alaric’s twins are inside of Klaus Mikaelson’s sister?!”</p><p>“They are,” said Valerie. “That has to be it. The poor girl probably has no idea— it’s the last thing she’d expected, even as well-versed as she is with magic!”</p><p>Alaric had no idea how he was going to tell Hilda.</p><p>Currently, it was the day before Thanksgiving. Hilda had finally stepped out of the Davilla Estate, since Freya had told her that The Strix had apparently taken Rebekah. Elijah had snatched the phone from his elder sister while she called his younger one, and had pleaded for Hilda to meet them at St. Anne’s Church. Hilda had been quite displeased to hear him, but he had told her that they needed to speak about Tristan and Lucien apparently working together, meaning she <em>was</em> in danger.</p><p>“Don’t be fucking absurd, you dipshit,” sneered Hilda, remaining rooted to the spot. “Even if they are working together, they wouldn’t hurt me. I, unlike you, haven’t turned anyone. Why am I a liability? Freya saw that I’m safe here.”</p><p>“Does it not peeve you that our sister has been taken by that man who you now share a bed with?” said Elijah venomously. “Perhaps they agreed not to harm you, but Aurora will not be so kind.”</p><p>“I will speak to Tristan about Rebekah, I swear it. And if he refuses to admit what he did or if he doesn’t hand me my sister, only <em>then</em> will I have doubts. I won’t allow you to dictate my relationships any longer, Elijah. I will be the one that calls the shots. In case you’ve forgotten, I am perfectly competent and don’t even think of testing me right now, because I am already <em>very</em> tempted to go and rip your heart and throat out.”</p><p>She hung up and marched straight to Tristan’s room. “Excuse me?” she said, barging through the door. “Is what my brother says, true? Did you have your Strix take my sister?”</p><p>“It was merely a precaution, my love, I was going to have you be her proxy,” he said, standing up. “I only wanted to get her away safely, to ensure my sister does not die. As you well remember, Rebekah is her sire. I—”</p><p>He was cut off as Hilda’s phone began to ring. She looked down and saw it was Alaric. She quickly pressed the off button to silence the ringing, and set it down. “Listen, Tristan, I don’t want excuses, I just want the truth. Don’t bullshit me. I want this to work, but it won’t work if you’re lying to me.”</p><p>“I’m not lying,” he said. “Yes, I admit, I took her. Rory is in danger if Rebekah is left unguarded. She’s isolated from the rest of you. As we speak, my Strix should have her in their possession. I swear to you, once they contact me letting me know all went well, you can decide what to do. Your siblings are in danger with this prophecy, and I know better than to assume you’re worried about my sire, but Niklaus and Rebekah must be protected. Lucien is causing sufficient problems on Niklaus’s end, and apparently, my sister is in town, and did not think to let me know—”</p><p>Hilda’s phone started to ring again. Alaric. She shut it off completely this time, sending the call to voicemail. Just before Tristan could continue speaking, it started to ring for a third time.</p><p>“What the bloody hell is so important…?” said Hilda, frustrated because she couldn’t believe that Elijah had been right about Tristan taking Rebekah. “Ric,” she answered, holding up her phone. “Listen, I really can’t talk right now, I’m trying to figure out something with my sister, if it’s urgent, please just wait ten minutes—”</p><p>“I’m already outside the gates,” he said, making both Hilda and Tristan frown. “Can’t get in… there are vampires everywhere and I don’t think Valerie can take all of them.”</p><p>“Valerie, the Heretic girl?”</p><p>“Yes. Please, come meet us, or let us in, or something, we really need to talk.”</p><p>Tristan furrowed his eyebrows and came forward, taking Hilda’s phone. “What is your business here?” he inquired. “Hilda does not seem aware of the fact you intended to visit.”</p><p>“We’re not planning to stay. This is something incredibly urgent.” </p><p>Tristan sighed, and handed Hilda her phone before speeding outside. She followed suit, and the arrived outside of the house, Tristan pressing a button to open the gates. Alaric and Valerie were accompanied by Caroline, and Hilda was now <em>very</em> confused.</p><p>“What the bloody hell is going on?” said Hilda, watching Caroline bringing out a massive bag of what looked like a small medical machine.</p><p>“Hi, Hilda,” said Caroline, half-smiling at her. “This is really abrupt, but we couldn’t wait.”</p><p>“May we come inside?” said Valerie impatiently. “We need to get started on the test.”</p><p>Hilda held her hands up. “Can we please—” but she didn’t get to finish. She dove off to the side, coughing and grabbing onto one of the pillars as she threw up onto the lawn, holding her stomach.</p><p>“See?” said Valerie, nudging Caroline. “There are the symptoms.”</p><p>Tristan waved his hand as several of The Strix started to come to see what was happening. “The symptoms of what?” he demanded, glaring at Alaric. </p><p>Hilda wiped her mouth and came over. “Did someone curse me without my knowledge?” </p><p>Alaric sighed, clasping his hands together. “Valerie is almost one hundred percent certain that you’re pregnant.”</p><p>At this, the Original began to laugh. “Oh, that’s hilarious,” she said, holding her tummy tenderly. “How would I be pregnant? Whose kids are they?”</p><p>Alaric bit his lip. “Mine. The twins.”</p><p>Hilda’s face went pale. “What? But how? You and I haven’t even slept together.”</p><p>“You don’t need to,” said Valerie. “At the wedding, the Gemini Coven did a spell. They wanted to save the future of their Coven. Those twins— Alaric and Jo’s babies— they were placed into you, for safekeeping. You’ve been having the symptoms, correct? Your body is practically indestructible. The babies couldn’t be safer.”</p><p>Caroline plucked out the machine. “This is to do an ultrasound. Valerie thinks they’re cloaked, so she’s going to undo the spell and do the ultrasound.”</p><p>It was the wildest thing Hilda had ever heard, and yet somehow, it made perfect sense. Though shocked, she and Tristan led them to Hilda’s room, where the machine was set up. Alaric was pacing nervously as Valerie beckoned for Hilda to lay down. She started to siphon a bit, then murmured a smell lowly, her hands hovering over Hilda’s stomach. </p><p>And when the ultrasound wand came in contact with her body, the screen showed the unmistakable image of twins, comfy and safe in the womb of one of the Originals.</p><p>
  <em>A/N: So a lot of you figured out this was going to happen— yay! I’m glad so many people have liked the idea of this. I thought of it before I even created Hilda (it was really weird to me that Caroline had to carry the twins). Also, after watching the first two seasons of Legacies, I really think the Saltzman twins and Hope would have had a really healthy relationship if they were cousins. I like the idea of ships like Jope/Hosie and Hizzie/Lope, but I think they would have all benefited from being closer because Hope needed that sense of family at the Salvatore School. Also, as we know, Lizzie and Hilda have something in common with their mental health and tempers, and although Caroline was shown to be a wonderful mom to the twins, I really think Lizzie would benefit from having a mom (and uncle Kol) who understands how her mind works and also understands magic. If you don’t want to read anymore, fine, I don’t care. But I will not tolerate hate comments about what I chose to do. So don’t even think about commenting hate because that’s exactly why I unpublished most of my other fics on Wattpad. Thanks.</em>
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<a name="section0048"><h2>48. Chapter 48</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <strong>Hilda let out a nervous laugh, looking at the screen.</strong>
</p><p>“What on Earth were they thinking?” she said quietly, putting a hand tentatively on her tummy. “Do they not know how much Mikaelson drama there is?”</p><p>“I don’t think they were thinking of that when they cast the spell,” said Valerie, giving her a reassuring smile.</p><p>Tristan was clearly having trouble grasping the reality. “This is impossible, Hilda,” he said. “You couldn’t possibly be pregnant. You’ve been a vampire for one thousand years.”</p><p>“And that’s what made her the perfect host,” explained Valerie. “She’s incredibly resistant. Not to mention she’s a twin who’s good with magic. The babies will need that.”</p><p>“You can’t go through with this,” said Tristan firmly. Hilda knew he had never liked the idea of children. And in the past, neither had she. “You ought to get them transferred to another surrogate— a real witch, perhaps? You won’t be able to do many of the things you love. And you despise children, Hilda, you can’t possibly think this will bring you benefit. No… you cannot do this.”</p><p>Hilda frowned. This was certainly not the reaction she expected. “Tristan, it’s my choice, not yours,” she said pointedly. Noticing the obvious tension between Tristan and Alaric, she looked over at the vampire. “I think this adds something to the matter of Rebekah.”</p><p>“What?” he said in disbelief. “How could you possibly be thinking of your sister at a time like this?”</p><p>“She loves babies! I’d very much like to go through this process with her at my side.”</p><p>Tristan looked visibly uncomfortable with this. “I will see what has happened with her body,” he said awkwardly, as though Hilda had mentioned something bad. </p><p>She pursed her lips. “Well, then, can you please wait for me in your room? I’d like to talk to them about everything. Feel free to go find your sister, too, I know she’s lurking about.”</p><p>Tristan did not seem chuffed at the idea of leaving Hilda with Alaric and the other two women, but he left. Alaric let out a loud huff. “Well, he looks pleasant.”</p><p>“Tristan hates kids,” she mumbled, turning back to the ultrasound, and listening to the projected heartbeats. “It’s… it’s true then? I’m… pregnant.”</p><p>Caroline and Valerie nodded. Alaric came to sit on the bed beside her. “Listen,” he said softly, “you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I know it’s a lot to ask. You’d have to sacrifice your happiness and lead a life that you never wanted. I can’t ask you to do that for me. If you want, Valerie can transfer the twins into someone else.”</p><p>“Ric,” she murmured, taking his hand. “Who am I to deny you the twins you thought you lost? I may not have liked the idea of having kids before but now…”</p><p>How could she say in that moment that he was the reason she had grown so open to the idea of family? That he, so gentle and kind, made her want to be human? She knew Tristan was likely eavesdropping from the other room, and she didn’t want to cause conflict between the two. But the reality was, that after so many months of raising Hope, and all this time that Hilda had spent, quite nearly in love with Alaric, she didn’t mind the idea of being a mother. In fact, it excited her. To be able to bring life to two children who had lost their parent, to be able to help a father recover the family he thought he lost, to have that chance to teach a set of twins about magic… to be the mother Esther never was… she saw it as a challenge, and that thrilled her more than anything.</p><p>“The point is,” she said softly, “I don’t need to spend all this time making a decision. I know it might seem rash but… I want to do this. It’s the right thing to do.”</p><p>“Hilda, hold on,” said Alaric. “You always say what’s the right thing and you always sacrifice your happiness for other people. Are you sure? I don’t want you to regret it. I don’t want you to feel like you were limited because you chose to help me. As much as I would love if… if it was you that brought them to term, I understand if you don’t want to.”</p><p>She laughed weakly. “I would think you’d be the worried one. Your twins are going to have a Mikaelson as their surrogate mother. I’m glad Dahlia’s been blown to bits, otherwise, these twins might’ve counted as Mikaelson firstborns…”</p><p>Alaric started to laugh with her, and she continued, “I swear to you, I want to do this. I just need to tell my siblings. I don’t know if it’s a wise idea to stay here in New Orleans. I may not be in mortal danger with this prophecy but I’ve been sparring every day without realizing I had two little ones in my body. Something could happen, and I don’t want to risk it.”</p><p>In that moment, Alaric could have kissed her. He would have liked for Caroline, Valerie, and Tristan to disappear completely so that he could pull Hilda into his arms and show her just how much this meant to him.</p><p>But of course, he was in decent control of his impulses, and knew it wasn’t the wisest idea, not while they were under Tristan de Martel’s roof.</p><p>“Well,” said Valerie, “I agree that this might not be the safest place to go through the rest of the pregnancy. You’re at around… five months, and with the cloaking spell undone, your baby bump will be growing within the next forty-eight hours.”</p><p>“Not to mention that you Originals get into some pretty brutal fights,” said Caroline matter-of-factly. “I can’t imagine Klaus will be too thrilled with the idea of his sister trying to fight with a pregnant belly.”</p><p>Hilda chuckled a bit, but her smile faltered as Tristan came into the room. “There’s a problem,” he said shakily, looking thoroughly embarrassed. “The Strix I sent to collect Rebekah did not complete their task. Someone has taken her.”</p><p>The Original sat up quickly. “Tristan, I swear to all the deities in the world, you better find my sister!” she said. She still couldn't believe that Elijah had been right about what Tristan had done. How could he even think to take down Rebekah without anyone else having a say in it? How could he sleep beside Hilda every night and not feel guilt for taking away one of her sisters?</p><p>Tristan held up his hands in surrender. “I will do what I can to find her. It must be a very simple misunderstanding.”</p><p>Hilda got to her feet and moved over to him. “Tell me the truth this instant. Are you and Lucien working together?”</p><p>“Now, darling, where did you hear an absurd thing like that?”</p><p>“Elijah told me! And he was right about you abducting Rebekah. So tell me the truth, or I swear, I will tear your heart out right where you stand. Freya was also kind enough to let me know that Shen Min tried to kill Hayley today. Apparently, she was to be taken off the playing field. What was a Strix operative doing following her around?”</p><p>Tristan looked uncomfortable. “Lucien and I were merely combining our efforts to ensure neither one of our sires succumbed to any harm. He has no desire to kill Elijah, and I have no desire to kill Niklaus. What we chose to do with Rebekah was only a precaution, I assure you, we do not intend to have any harm come to her, or your siblings. We are working together to protect <em>all of us</em>. This, I swear to you, is true. And I hadn’t the faintest idea that Shen Min was even in town, he did not arrive for the gathering.” </p><p>Hilda crossed her arms. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to be leaving, anyway.”</p><p>“My darling, are you really going to proceed with this?” he said, taking her hand. He seemed to want to make Alaric jealous, because he looped one hand around her waist, holding her bottom to pull her closer.</p><p>“Yes, I am,” she said bluntly. “You know that once I’ve made up my mind, that’s that. I’m going to collect my things and leave the city.”</p><p>“At least let me escort you to your home,” he said. “To ensure there is no unwanted altercation between you and Elijah.” He looked at the others. “They can follow behind in the car they came in.”</p><p>Alaric laughed at this. “Listen, pal, I don’t think I need to explain again that she’s carrying my twins. She can go in the same car as us, there’s room. As a matter of fact, you can fit in there too, in the backseat.”</p><p>Tristan released Hilda and stepped forward. Caroline and Valerie tensed, and Hilda moved beside him to ensure he didn’t try anything. Tristan stopped right in front of Alaric. He was shorter than him, but the menacing look on Tristan’s face was much more intimidating than what Alaric could muster. “Perhaps, it ought to be her choice,” said Tristan smoothly. “She may be carrying your children but she is her own person and I do not think she’d like to be crammed in that… thing you call a car. As for leaving the city, I implore you, Hilda…” he turned to face her again, remaining rooted in front of Alaric. “You will be safe if you remain here. The Strix will protect you. I can provide anything you and the children need. I do not think a human father will be able to give you the suitable accommodations that you deserve.”</p><p>“Excuse you,” said Caroline sharply, speeding up to Tristan. “You and Hilda may have a thing, but Alaric is the father of those babies, and he gets a say, too. She wants to go, and you don’t get to control her. He’s not poor. Just because he doesn’t wear flashy suits doesn’t mean he lives under a freeway overpass.”</p><p>Tristan started to laugh. “Oh, this one has fire… I hear you were one of Niklaus’s little playthings, correct?”</p><p>“Hilda is the one who gets to make the decisions here,” said Alaric firmly, seeing Caroline’s cheeks heat up. “Don’t bully her into staying with you.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, old chap, but <em>who are you,</em> again?” said Tristan snidely. “The ‘best friend,’ is it? It would seem to me that you’re a very sour ex-fling that never quite got over the fact that she chose better.”</p><p>“Tristan!” snapped Hilda, stepping forward and yanking him back. Alaric’s jaw twitched, and he heavily considered knocking the vampire’s teeth out. “Why are you acting like this?” the Original demanded. He had never acted so possessive.</p><p>“I do not wish to see you go,” insisted Tristan, taking her shoulders. “Please, my love, we only just reunited and now, you’re going to depart?”</p><p>“Just because I leave to carry these babies to term doesn’t mean we’re over, you moronic prat,” she said, glaring at him. “There are cell phones for a reason. It wouldn’t kill you to wait four months to see me in person. If my safety and my choice matters to you, then you ought to be supportive of me <em>choosing</em> to leave New Orleans to ensure <em>my safety,</em> and by default, the safety of the twins that are in my womb.”</p><p>Tristan looked defeated. It was evident that he didn’t fancy the idea of her leaving with Alaric. He knew without needing to pry that Alaric felt something for Hilda, and she felt something for him. “I will find Rebekah,” he said desperately. “I will bring her here, I will let her stay here to attend to you…”</p><p>“Tristan, I want to go,” she implored. “We’re not ending this simply because I go to another city. If you’ve loved me for a thousand years when we were time zones apart, that love should not waver just because I choose to settle myself somewhere else for a little while. Promise me that you’ll bring Rebekah back to me. Please.”</p><p>The vampire did not want to promise, but he did. “You have my word, my darling,” he said heavily. He looked up at the others with distaste. “I suppose their car will have to suffice.” He offered Hilda his arm. “I’ll escort you down.”</p><p>Hilda held on, casting Alaric a worried look. Tristan’s behavior was strange. This past month she’d been staying with him, he’d been quite kind and patient. Now, it seemed as though the imminence of her departure was going to make him lose his mind.</p><p>“I’ll have one of The Strix pack your things and take them to you,” he said as he opened the car door and helped her into the front seat. “Anything you need, you let me know.”</p><p>“Thank you, Tristan,” said Hilda softly as the others joined them.</p><p>The ride was completely silent and incredibly awkward. Tristan was sitting in the back with Caroline and Valerie, who were pursing their lips and trying not to make noise. Alaric was driving, of course, and Hilda was in the front seat, buckled up properly and absentmindedly running her hand over her tummy. She could faintly hear two little heartbeats, she was sure of it…</p><p>“Valerie and I will wait in the car,” said Caroline, half-smiling as Hilda told Alaric where to part. The two seemed to be expecting that quite a bit problem would erupt when they told Hilda’s brothers.</p><p>“Of course,” said Hilda, getting out slowly.</p><p>Freya was nowhere in sight, but Elijah and Klaus were in the courtyard. To Hilda’s surprise, Aurora was right beside them.</p><p>“Ooh, Hilly!” squealed Aurora, running to hug her. “Oh, I was wondering when I’d get to see you!”</p><p>Hilda awkwardly hugged back. “Aurora…”</p><p>Tristan was in shock to see his sister. “Oh, come on, Tristan!” said Aurora, taking his arm. “Let’s go have a chat, come on.”</p><p>“In a minute, Rory,” said Tristan, facing Elijah, who was narrowing his eyes. But Aurora whined and tugged harder, and Tristan gave a frustrated sigh before leading her away.</p><p>“What’s happened?” Elijah asked suspiciously. “And why is Alaric Saltzman in our home?”</p><p>Before she said anything, Hilda asked them to call Freya. Their eldest sister arrived fifteen minutes later, and gave Alaric a hasty and confused greeting before sitting on the couch with her brothers.</p><p>Hilda clasped her hands together. “So. I’m pregnant.”</p><p>They were blank-faced for a moment, then began to laugh. “Your sense of humor has become significantly broken over the years,” said Klaus, smirking and shaking his head. “If part of the joke is that Alaric is the father of this hypothetical baby, then I pity that poor child. And here I thought poor Hope was going to suffer with me as a father…”</p><p>“I’m not joking, Nik,” said Hilda. She stepped forward. “Listen.” She took her brothers’ hands and put them on her belly.</p><p>The smiles on their faces faltered instantly. “That’s impossible,” said Elijah immediately. “You can’t get pregnant.”</p><p>Hilda and Alaric launched into a very brief explanation of how this was, in fact, possible. The two brothers were dumbfounded, but Freya seemed to understand.</p><p>“Then it’s true,” she said, a wide grin on her face. “I’m going to be an aunt again!”</p><p>Hilda squeaked as Freya pulled her into a hug. “I suppose so, Freya, but let’s remember, these babies aren’t mine, I’m the surrogate.”</p><p>“Nonsense,” said Klaus, standing up and shaking Alaric’s hand, which made the human male look a bit surprised. He must’ve expected Klaus would kill him. “Those may be his twins, but they are, by default, Mikaelsons. You are carrying our nieces or nephews or niece and nephew apiece, and they are Hope’s cousins.” He put his hands on Alaric’s shoulders. “They are Mikaelsons. This means my siblings and I will protect them. It does not matter whether they are or are not biological progeny of my sister.”</p><p>Alaric offered him a smile as Elijah shook his hand. “So… you’re okay with me taking her to Mystic Falls?”</p><p>“I’m not quite thrilled to hear you’re going to prance back to the town where everyone hates us,” said Klaus honestly, “but if Hilly believes it to be the best option… well, I would not object.”</p><p>Elijah nodded. “We will be a phone call away. I think it safer for Hilda to be away from New Orleans. Even without being mentioned by name in the prophecy, she can be collateral damage to any of our numerous enemies. We have yet to determine what Tristan and Lucien are planning. On that matter, we intend to invite them and Aurora to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. To see what they tell us about Rebekah.”</p><p>“I asked Tristan to retrieve her,” said Hilda, furrowing her eyebrows. “I’d like to believe he will do it.”</p><p>Klaus pursed his lips. “The problem with that, sister, is that Rebekah is not in the possession of The Strix. It would appear Aurora took her. She is our sister’s sireling, after all.”</p><p>Hilda became serious. “You’re telling me that little foxy bitch has our sister in her clutches?”</p><p>“It would appear so,” said Freya gravely. “I’m attempting to locate her, but we have nothing. It’s best you leave. Things might get ugly.”</p><p>“Hang on,” said Hilda. “What… what are you planning to do?”</p><p>“We’ll question them,” said Klaus. “We’ll see what they tell us. Your Tristan will not succumb to harm if he is honest with us. I believe… Elijah has already discussed with you what we’ve learned?”</p><p>Hilda hesitated to look at her older brother. “Yes. He told me. And Tristan did not deny it. He’s working with Lucien.”</p><p>“Rest assured,” said Freya, motioning for the brothers to stay silent, “we won’t hurt him unless he’s jeopardizing the safety of our family. Does that sound good to you? We don’t want to harm him.”</p><p>Hilda nodded slowly. “I… I suppose so.” She shook her head quickly. “I must go and pack.”</p><p>“I’ll help you,” offered Alaric.</p><p>They went up to her room, and Hilda let out a soft breath. “That went fairly well, I’d say. At least they believed it fairly quickly.” She pushed open the door to her room, and immediately started moving around, putting the most important things in the prepared suitcase. “I can just buy new clothes over there… I don’t want to take everything.”</p><p>This was the first time Alaric had ever been in Hilda’s room. He had to admit, she had good taste in decorations. “This is comfortable,” he mentioned. “Look… Hilda, if you want to stay, I won’t make you go.”</p><p>“Don’t be silly, I want to leave. These twins aren’t safe here. I want to protect them. Kol and I were mistreated by our parents. Jo and Kai were torn apart by their father. These twins deserve all the safety in the world.”</p><p>Alaric came closer and took her hand. “I can’t thank you enough for agreeing to this. I know this isn’t exactly how you pictured eventually becoming a mother but thank you… this means a lot to me.” </p><p>She blushed and looked away. “Of course. I’m sorry about Tristan. I think he’s jealous.”</p><p>Alaric wanted to say,<em> ‘I’m jealous, too,’ </em>but instead, he chuckled. “Well, I would imagine he is. His girlfriend was just revealed to be pregnant with another man’s children.”</p><p>“I’m not his girlfriend,” said Hilda plainly, moving into the bathroom to get some more important utensils. “We haven’t made anything official. He doesn’t need to make a problem about it. It’s not like I’m abandoning him entirely.”</p><p>“He figured out pretty quickly that you and I had a thing.”</p><p>“I don’t doubt he already knew. He must have figured you weren’t just a friend.”</p><p>Alaric bit his lip. “Do you still want to be with him?”</p><p>Hilda sighed. “Of course I do. After what I’ve learned… I want to be at his side. But it would be wrong of me to get so deep into it when I have another commitment. I don’t want to cause a problem between you two. If Tristan really cares for me, he will wait until the babies are born, and he will be understanding of the living arrangements. He can always visit if he’s willing to travel. I can get myself a nice apartment—”</p><p>“Oh,” said Alaric, blushing. “I’m sorry, I assumed you’d stay in my apartment.”</p><p>Her own cheeks turned a darker shade of red. “Well… if you want me to be there so you can see the progress… then I don’t mind. Are you sure you don’t want me to live elsewhere?”</p><p>“I’d be honored if you accepted to live with me,” he said, his heart skipping a beat. He really hoped she’d say yes. “Please.”</p><p>Hilda found herself smiling. “Alright, Ric, but only if you’re sure.”</p><p>Once she had finished preparing her suitcase, they went back down and found her siblings waiting for her by the car. Klaus and Freya were speaking with Caroline and Valerie. Elijah was off to the side, looking out of place. Tristan and Aurora hadn’t returned.</p><p>“We ought to get going,” said Hilda. She made to lift the suitcase to put it in the trunk of the car, but Alaric took it from her and did it instead. </p><p>Elijah shifted awkwardly, and Hilda sighed. “All I ask, Elijah, is that you never, under any circumstance, stab me in the back like that again. I want to hurt you, I do, but I won’t risk hurting these twins.”</p><p>“I am beyond sorry, Hilda,” he whispered. “In the moment, I thought I was doing what was right. I had no authority and I apologize.”</p><p>She half-smiled, not ready to try to hug him, yet. She moved to Freya, who pulled her into a hug. “As soon as we find Rebekah, we’ll have her give you a call,” she promised. “She’ll be thrilled to hear about this.”</p><p>Klaus stepped forward and pulled his sister into a hug. “It pains me to see you leaving so soon,” he said quietly. “Hayley and Jackson went into the Bayou and they weren’t able to make it, but I promise you, I will have them call you. As for Tristan…”</p><p>“Just tell him I said goodbye,” she murmured. “He has my number, he can call me. I don’t think it wise to wait. Something tells me it’s safer to get underway. We don’t know what sort of trouble is brewing outside of our borders.”</p><p>Klaus nodded. “Of course. Safe drive.” He looked at Alaric. “Take care of my sister.”</p><p>Alaric assented. “I will, I promise.”</p><p>They began to drive back to Mystic Falls soon after, and Hilda looked back through the rearview mirror as her siblings waved at her.</p><p>This was all so confusing, but at the same time, she didn’t feel out of place. She felt at ease. Alaric had a way of making her feel safe, too. And if she could help him have the family he wanted, she would do it.</p><p>‘Always and Forever’ now applied to him and the twins, too.</p>
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<a name="section0049"><h2>49. Chapter 49</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>They passed Mystic Falls and went straight to Whitmore.</strong>
</p><p>Caroline and Valerie had been filling Hilda in on the problems with Julian, the man that Lily Salvatore was with. Hilda learned some things that made her cringe, and she was glad to know that at least, they were safer in Whitmore.</p><p>No one let her carry anything. It was as though they thought she might strain herself rolling her suitcase up to the front door of Alaric’s apartment. Caroline took the suitcase and Valerie helped Hilda out of the car while Alaric ran ahead to open the door and prepare a space for her things.</p><p>“It’s not necessary, really,” said Hilda awkwardly. “I can manage…”</p><p>“Your belly is going to start to grow soon,” said Caroline. “You need to get rest so you can adjust to the new baby weight you’re going to gain tomorrow. And you need sleep, you were awake the entire way here.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled. “Alright, but at least let me put my things away…”</p><p>They almost didn’t want to let her do that, either— at least not by herself. Valerie helped Hilda put what she’d packed in a set of drawers Alaric had cleared for her. Caroline was helping Alaric clean the kitchen while he cleaned the bathroom and set his things aside to leave Hilda room for her materials, which he put away for her once it was all that was left in her suitcase. She tried to say she wasn’t tired and wasn’t hungry, but Caroline cooked for her, and Valerie coaxed her into sitting on the sofa for a bit while Alaric prepared the bed— apparently, he said she was not allowed to sleep on the couch, she had to have a proper place to sleep, and he would take the couch for the next few months.</p><p>It was already the early hours of the morning on Thanksgiving day when Caroline and Valerie went to their homes to sleep. It seemed Alaric and Hilda were both too energetic to do anything.</p><p>“I know this isn’t the best place,” said Alaric quietly. “I’ll look into something bigger.”</p><p>“Don’t let what Tristan said affect you,” she warned. “He was the son of a Count, he was born into wealth and has remained in it for centuries. He doesn’t understand that people can still live comfortably even when they don’t live in a grand Estate. Us Mikaelsons, well, we were incredibly poor before we were turned, and any wealth we accumulated was through hard work and yes, I admit, some swindling done by my brothers. Rebekah and I were given gifts for our looks and we would sell it. We built what we have on our own and like I’ve mentioned before, Kol and I have never really indulged in it. Don’t think you’re not worthy just because you don’t live in a castle. This place is comfortable. And besides, if you do want something bigger, don’t try to pay for it from your savings, let me pitch in. We don’t use the money unless we’re helping other people, so trust me, it’s just sitting there.”</p><p>Alaric offered her a smile. “I like it here, for now. I just thought you might want a bigger place… but still living with me.”</p><p>“I like it here. It’s comfortable.” She got up, thinking to go get a glass of water, and immediately shrank back, a wave of dizziness hitting her. Alaric caught her so she wouldn’t hit her head. “Woah— are you okay?”</p><p>“Got dizzy,” she said, sinking back onto the couch. She put her hands on her stomach. “I suppose Caroline wasn’t too far off… I feel like someone just inserted a pair of one pound weights into my belly.”</p><p>Alaric quickly got up and brought her the water himself. “Here, drink up. I need to get some blood bags here, too… you like them heated up, right?”</p><p>“I think I shouldn’t have them heated up, though,” she said pensively. “I don’t want to be going out to feed on people.”</p><p>“Whatever you need, please let me know,” he said, watching her drink. She leaned back, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh. </p><p>“I can’t believe they were just <em>in there,</em>” she mumbled. “This entire time, I’ve been punched and kicked in the stomach and they were still nice and cozy.”</p><p>“As long as you don’t get into fights for another few months, there’s nothing to worry about,” Alaric noted. “Just take it easy. No strenuous activities. I can’t imagine Tristan will be too happy about that…”</p><p>Hilda frowned. “What do you mean?”</p><p>Alaric turned beet red. “Oh. I just imagined if he does visit, he was going to have an expectation to…”</p><p>Her eyes widened. “Oh, no, no— definitely not.” Her own cheeks were pink. “We’re not going to do anything, not while they’re in there, that’ll be disrespectful. Plus, at five months… with an ancient vampire... that’s not wise.”</p><p>Alaric looked relieved that she took it so well. He just didn’t want to think of how Tristan would react if he asked him not to get intimate with Hilda. Truth be told, Alaric wasn’t as worried of the fact that Tristan would probably kill him. He was more concerned how Tristan would react if Hilda agreed with Alaric. Though it seemed that Tristan had never meant to assault Hilda, and it had been a terrible side effect of the compulsion, Alaric didn’t trust him. He seemed calculating and simultaneously temperamental. He didn’t want to think of how Tristan would retaliate if Hilda opposed him. She may have known him for a while, but after centuries, did she really know who he was now?</p><p>Hilda drummed her fingers against the couch. “I wonder how the Thanksgiving dinner will go,” she said quietly. “What it’ll reveal. If Tristan will keep his word.”</p><p>Alaric couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Do you think the two of you will become official?”</p><p>The question took Hilda a bit out of the loop, but she regained her composure and thought it over. “I don’t know. The past month, I’ve been quite happy there. Away from my family. Reliving all this bliss from a thousand years ago— seeing what I’ve been missing out on. But he’s different. I’m different. I asked him, the second day, if we could take things slowly and almost start over. He was alright with it, but there was this aspect of impatience that he didn’t use to have. Tristan’s always liked things done his way, but he seemed like he didn’t want to actually abide by my terms. The first night we… you know… he was very understanding but I worry that he only did it to reel me in.”</p><p>Alaric wanted to celebrate. So despite everything and her obviously strong affections for Tristan, <em>she wasn’t even sure about him.</em> That meant <em>he</em> had a chance! Alaric quickly stopped himself after that thought. He shouldn’t take advantage of the situation like that. If Hilda chose to go about things differently, he would respect that.</p><p>“Just make sure you don’t settle for less than what you deserve,” said Alaric quietly. </p><p>Hilda smiled. “Yes… I know. If he loves me, he will wait, and he will be understanding. I don’t want him being rude to the twins.”</p><p>“Are you saying… you want to help me raise them?”</p><p>“Of course I do. By the time they’re born, I’ll have been carrying them for around nine months. You forge a connection whether you’re a surrogate or not. I’ll want to hold them, I’ll want to see their little faces and I… won’t be able to draw away. I won’t be able to survive just being the family friend. I know I said ages ago that I only ever wanted to be the cool aunt, but this… this opportunity has arisen. I never saw myself becoming a mother but now, this is underway, and I think it’s a sign… a learning opportunity… a chance to create a healthy family and apply all the things I’ve learned after centuries of dysfunction with my siblings and parents. I want to be there to see them talk and take their first steps. If… if you’re alright with that, I want to be their stepmother. I want to do right by Jo and ensure that your twins are able to grow loved and safe, so that they can eventually learn about their biological mother and know what an amazing woman she was.”</p><p>Once again, Alaric quite nearly kissed her, but he held himself back. Instead, he grinned and took her hands. “I would be honored if you would be my honorary co-parent.”</p><p>“Only if you’re okay with your twins being part of my crazy family,” she murmured with a slight teasing air. “You heard Nik. My siblings will lay their lives down for them, but as you well know, there’s quite a bit of drama every year. Every <em>day</em>, really."</p><p>“It’s fine with me,” he said. “If they’re being accepting and if they’re going to protect them, I don’t mind.”</p><p>Hilda’s phone began to ring, and she stopped, looking down to see it was Hayley. Alaric respectfully got up and went to make them breakfast, since it was already morning. </p><p>“What is this I hear about you getting pregnant and leaving?” said Hayley, sounding excited despite jokingly scolding her. “This is amazing, Hilda!”</p><p>Hilda chuckled lightly. “Well it’s not like I just got pregnant right now, I’ve been since June and just didn’t know.”</p><p>“Hope, Jack, and I will have to visit you. If Tyler’s still around there, I’d love to catch up with him so he can meet Hope.”</p><p>“That would be nice. I’ll find out where he is, Caroline will probably know.”</p><p>“She’s wonderful. Oh— Hope wants to say something.” There was a scuffling sound as the phone moved, and Hilda’s eyes lit up at the sound of her niece babbling.</p><p>“Hi, princess,” she told her sweetly. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye. But you’re going to have two new friends, soon…”</p><p>Alaric could hear, as their conversation continued, how Hayley was already giving Hilda several tips. He heard an unfamiliar male voice congratulating her as well, and he assumed that must be Jackson. He found himself smiling, watching Hilda still running her fingers over her tummy, as if she was feeling it growing already. She sounded genuinely excited, and it was the greatest thing he could have asked for. How much of a blessing had the universe given him? His twins were under the same roof as him and they were going to be brought into the world by one of his closest friends. He knew that Jo would have been so happy to see that Hilda was going to be their surrogate mother. He could almost imagine her saying,<em> “Ric, this is incredible! I don’t know anything about magic, those poor twins would have been very disappointed… I’m glad that they’ll have someone who can teach them spells properly.” </em>A slow tear descended on his cheek as he thought of her, and he let it drip off his chin and onto his shirt. How he wished she could be here, too. </p><p>When Hilda hung up the call, she tried to get up again, holding the armrest of the couch to be secure. She let out a slow breath, and straightened up. “That feels better,” she said, making Alaric shoot her a thumbs up. “I think the worst part will be up until tomorrow with five months worth of weight speeding to catch up in two days. From there, it’ll be gradually increasing until it’s time for them to pop out.”</p><p>He nodded. “Just make sure you get rest if you need it. Don’t feel like you have to be moving around and helping me, I can manage. It’s Thanksgiving, I have today and tomorrow off from work.”</p><p>“Ah, work,” she murmured, coming over to sit at the island in his kitchen. “I feel like such a lazy bum, I haven’t had a job… ever. Not really. I’ll be doing random things for the next months just seeing what happens. In New Orleans, there was always something to help with, and I never realized how… boring my life really is, in the perspective of a normal human.”</p><p>“Pfft, if that human understood the supernatural world, though, your life would be anything but boring. You could always spend the day here or go for walks… I apologize, I admit I didn’t think ahead. You don’t know many people here and well, there’s honestly not that much to do in Whitmore.”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “Do you remember, when we met… Meredith Fell was telling me all about Medical School and stuff? Maybe I could study.”</p><p>Alaric raised his eyebrows. “I thought you only said all that because you were trying to hit on me.”</p><p>She rolled her eyes. “No, I genuinely want to do something. Like I said, I’m pretty good at Chemistry because of how it ties in with magic. They have a Chemistry Department there, right?”</p><p>“Yep, they do. I mean, if you’d like to study there, it might be fun for you. I already told you this… wow, a year ago… but you’ll definitely teach the Chemistry department a thing or two.”</p><p>“It’ll give me something to do. I think I like the idea of that. I’ll pretend I’m a transfer from ooh, I know, Duke. I visited, it’s not technically a lie.”</p><p>Alaric started to laugh. “Well, with compulsion, no one will even ask you questions.” He pushed a plate stacked with pancakes to her, and her eyes widened.</p><p>“You practically gave me all the ones you made,” she said sheepishly.</p><p>“Because I know you need to fuel up,” he said. “I’m going to go out and get you some blood to take with food.” He served himself only two pancakes, that were just finishing on the stove. He moved to the cabinet behind him and brought out syrup, strawberry marmalade, some marshmallows, and whipped cream.</p><p>Hilda, of course, devoured the entire stack of pancakes. Alaric smirked when he saw her staring down at her empty plate in realization, and went to set the dishes in the sink before getting his laptop and bringing it over to her. Again, she was rubbing over her stomach.</p><p>“Everything okay?” he asked. “Is it hurting?”</p><p>“Just a tiny bit, I can feel the weight accumulating, even more so with the food. Thankfully, I don’t feel nauseous. I just… I think I can feel it growing. My belly.”</p><p>He raised an eyebrow. “Wait, really?”</p><p>She nodded and stood, lifting her shirt a bit. A small smile came to her face when she saw the unmistakable start of a baby bump. “Little by little,” she murmured, mostly to herself.</p><p>Alaric beamed at her. “I wish we’d have found out earlier, just so you wouldn’t be expected to grow to the size of a watermelon in two days.”</p><p>“Ah, it’s alright,” she said, waving her hand as she put her shirt back down and sat in her seat, seeing he was navigating through the main website of Whitmore College. He clicked a few times to get her to an overview of the Chemistry Department, where she could see the different majors. “I was always best at the biochemistry and inorganic chemistry aspects. I think… oh! This major— Chemical Biology… the requirements… well I don’t understand all that well but it seems I can take these classes to get that degree. Would I have to start as a freshman? Hmm, maybe. Ugh, I don’t want to take these adjacent math courses…”</p><p>“So don’t,” he said simply. “Just enroll yourself as ‘Undeclared’ and take only the classes you like. I mean, the babies will be here before you finish the next semester and I don’t know if you’ll want to continue studying when they’re born.”</p><p>She shrugged. “We’ll see. But you’re right, for now, I’m gonna sign up for… ooh, I’ll have to wait until January to start taking classes. That’s fine, I should have adjusted to all the pregnancy stuff by then. Let’s sign up… Chem 135 - Chemical Biology. Chem 103 - Inorganic Chemistry. Maybe I could sign up for Occult Studies so you have to teach me.”</p><p>Alaric laughed heartily at this. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep a straight face, but if you’d like…”</p><p>“Ooh, no, wait, I can’t, I have to be a guest speaker, right? I can’t be a guest speaker <em>and</em> be a student, no one would believe it…”</p><p>“What if you come to be a guest speaker in December?” he suggested. “Before the final. You can help answer any questions about the material. That way, in this month, you can try and see what I’ve been teaching so you understand how specific to be with the questions.”</p><p>“I like that. So I’d say, for my last class choice, let’s do… Chem 120 - Physical Chemistry. Shouldn’t be too bad of a class load.”</p><p>It seemed that this was going to be a fun way to spend her time while she waited to give birth.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>In the afternoon, Tristan called.</p><p>“My darling,” he said when she greeted him. “How are you?”</p><p>“I’m well,” she told him, holding the phone against her ear as she moved around, helping Alaric make dinner. It was just going to be the two of them, since apparently, Damon and Stefan had something happening with their mother, and Caroline and Valerie were helping them. “Cooking. Are you getting ready to see what my siblings are intending to feed you?”</p><p>“Yes, actually. Rory says congratulations. She’s elated at the idea of you becoming a mother, even though the children are not yours.”</p><p>“Tell her I said ‘thank you.’ In terms of the dinner... Please, don’t be cross with my siblings if they press on. We want our sister back, that’s all. I still don’t understand why you saw it fit to take her, or why Aurora butted in. I don’t wish to be angry with you, Tristan, but this is the last thing I expected you to do.”</p><p>There was a heavy sigh. “My love, I simply wanted to keep my sister safe, and in doing so, I protect yours as well. She was not with you in person, either way.”</p><p>“She and I still texted and spoke on the phone, you know. We were communicating, and now she’s desiccated somewhere. I don’t think I need to elaborate on how important it is for her to be aware of my pregnancy. I want her support, even from a distance. And I want your support as well.”</p><p>“And you shall have it, Hilda. I will be messaging you every day to check your progress.”</p><p>She smiled, and moved to start preparing the gravy and mashed potatoes. “Be on your best behavior, Tristan. They won’t hurt you if you don’t give them reason to.”</p><p>This seemed to annoy him. “Is this your manner of telling me that you encourage your siblings to harm me? My dear Hilda, I thought we shared a mutual dislike for their behavioral patterns.”</p><p>“We bicker and all and I’m not on the best of terms with Elijah right now, but they are my siblings and we are trying to acquire our sister, who you took. I asked them not to harm you for no reason. But I can’t control if they snap when provoked. You know I could never control my temper. How can you expect them to? No matter what you say, I do not take kindly to your kidnapping of my sister. I understand you want to protect yours, but why at the expense of mine? I wish you would have communicated with me about the idea first, at the very least. I thought we had an understanding of being open with each other. Or is that no longer the case after all these years?”</p><p>Tristan seemed almost agitated. “I didn’t mean to anger you, Hilda. I apologize. I will speak to you later, I must get going now. I send you all my love and best wishes.”</p><p>She half-smiled. “Take care, Tristan.”</p><p>When she hung up, she saw Alaric was watching. She pursed her lips and set her phone down. At first, she didn't speak. </p><p>There were many things he wanted to tell her, even if it caused a problem. He wanted to say that he didn't think she should trust Tristan, no matter what their history. He wanted to say that he thought Tristan loved her, but not enough to care about her more than himself. He wanted to tell her that he didn't want her with Tristan, that he thought she ought to be with someone else... someone like him. But no, he couldn't possibly tell her that.</p><p>“He got uncomfortable,” Hilda said lowly and suspiciously, staring into the mashed potatoes as though she were seeing visions inside of it. “He’s hiding more things from me… important things. I hope my siblings find out what it is.”</p><p>She stirred the gravy, and looked up at Alaric. “I fear… this Tristan is not the same man I left behind one thousand years ago.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0050"><h2>50. Chapter 50</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Before going to bed that night, Hilda received disturbing news.</strong>
</p><p>She had taken a bath well after they’d finished dinner. Alaric had gone out shopping for some essentials, and Hilda, who had been feeling a bit unwell, remained in the apartment.</p><p>She lay in the shower, caressing her belly, which was growing more and more each hour. It would have been an alarming sight for a normal doctor to witness. Her feet ached as she grew accustomed to the added weight, and her hunger was immense. She knew Alaric was bringing blood bags, but the wait was killing her. It was as though she hadn’t eaten half of the ham all on her own. The nausea had not been so bad today, but she feared that before the end of the night, she’d throw up.</p><p>Her phone rang as she was getting out. She wrapped a towel around herself and went out into the main area of the apartment to dress herself, bringing the phone to her ear. “Nik,” she said. “What’s the update?”</p><p>“They’re rotten to the core,” he sneered. “They refused to give us her location. Aurora claims she and Tristan split the longitude and latitude. Rebekah’s body is somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. We chose to keep Tristan here for questioning but Aurora managed to leave, and she’s kidnapped Camille.”</p><p>“What?” gasped Hilda, sitting down on the bed quickly. The news had nearly made her collapse, and she held her head with her free hand. “But— but why—?”</p><p>“Idiotic Lucien… he was holding her hostage in his penthouse and he brought her up and when we took Tristan, Aurora chose to retaliate in a way that would hurt me. Hayley and Freya could not get through to her. I’m out searching as we speak.”</p><p>Hilda made to say something, but had to speed to the bathroom, tossing her phone to the side and retching, barely managing to stick her head over the toilet before she threw up. She could hear Klaus from the other line, frantically asking if she was alright— he could certainly hear what’d happened. </p><p>“M’fine,” she said a bit weakly, staying on the floor as she flushed the toilet, grasping her phone. “That… did not sit well. So much for the dinner we made here. Ugh… Aurora will kill her.”</p><p>“I know,” said Klaus shakily. “I know, and I’m terrified, Hilly, I don’t know what she’s planning. We cannot trust them. I thought… I thought that after learning of Elijah’s betrayal… you and I would be happy with Tristan and Aurora. Our relationships were never meant to end. But we were naive to think that even a month would grant us a proper return to how things once were. We expected that our plight would end and we’d rejoice in their presence, that all would be well. But we didn’t stop to think of the time. We… we compelled them to live as myself, Elijah, and Rebekah. They were bait for Mikael. How could we expect them to forget it? </p><p>“Their animosity has only grown. Their love for us, while present, is toxic and damaging. It matters not how it was before. They have changed and so have we. I am a father now and my priority is my daughter. You are about to learn the same thing when you give birth to not one, but two children. Tristan and Aurora are just as obsessive of each other as they once more… perhaps more so. I’m thankful you were not here to see it. It was as though they both forgot that you and I sought to be their partners when we saw them again. They acted selfishly and continue to put our sister in danger. </p><p>“You and I are not the prime examples of good people but they are <em>poisoned</em>, Hilly, they are forever changed and I feel at ease knowing you are far from Tristan at this moment. You cannot trust him, as I cannot trust Aurora. I wish that things could be different, but they are not. We need to think, before anything, of our children— yours, unborn. And of ourselves, as their parents. I will not tell you to cease communicating with him… I fear he will retaliate if he realizes something is wrong… but please, sister, stay where you are and don’t come down, no matter what you hear.”</p><p>“Alright, Nik,” she whispered, letting her legs fall back. She hissed a bit in pain. “Bloody hell… I can’t imagine how our mother did this six times with a single child and once with two. I’m turning into a weighted balloon.”</p><p>Klaus laughed weakly. “I will let you rest, sister. Feel better. Freya, Hayley, and Hope send their greetings, as does Elijah.”</p><p>“Find Cami, Nik,” she said, forcing a smile. “I hope she’s safe when you get to her…”</p><p>“I hope so, too.”</p><p>When he hung up, she gripped the counter, holding her stomach as she brought herself to her feet. She stood for a few moments, drawing deep breaths. She looked in the mirror and estimated that this was what she would have looked like on Halloween, when she would have been four months pregnant. If only she had known, perhaps she never might’ve rekindled with Tristan…</p><p>She wondered what might’ve happened if she’d elected not to attend the party. Would he have sought her out? Would she have learned about the pregnancy before she learned of Elijah’s betrayal? She wasn’t sure, and she feared that perhaps, the answer would not be so kind. </p><p>She was dressed in her pajamas by the time Alaric arrived. She had brought only a t-shirt and pajama pants, and he had to do a double take when he walked through the door, because as she sat on the couch, watching a nature documentary, her growing belly was very prominent, and the sight made him smile.</p><p>He tossed her a blood bag, and immediately, the veins under her eyes appeared. She tore it open and drank it hungrily, leaning her head back. “Thank bloody Merlin and King Arthur,” she groaned as he came and handed her another one. “This tastes heavenly after today.”</p><p>“I brought some snacks and stuff you might like,” he said, bringing the groceries onto the counter. “I also picked up some prenatal vitamins— Caroline called me and said that they’ll be beneficial even if you’re a vampire. She’s been reading all these books about preparing for twins and babies in general and I can guarantee, your Chemistry Professors aren’t the only ones that are going to assign you homework. She’s going to pile up reading assignments, no joke.”</p><p>Hilda smiled and switched off the television, getting up slowly to go and help him put things away. As expected, he swatted her hand away and gestured for her to sit and watch instead.</p><p>“I didn’t get good news from home,” she muttered, deciding that if she couldn’t help, she might as well talk. “Rebekah’s somewhere at the bottom of the sea, Aurora kidnapped Cami, and Tristan’s probably going to be tortured by my siblings for withholding Rebekah’s location.”</p><p>Alaric turned pale. “That sounds bad. You don’t think they just… chucked your sister off a boat, did they? It’ll take forever to find her.”</p><p>“She must be in a sort of coffin. But I do think they might have had someone dump her in the water. It would seem that… Tristan really can’t be trusted. Klaus thinks ‘ghosting’ him might not be advisable, but I can’t be pursuing anything with him. It’ll only get me hurt.”</p><p>Alaric thought this was tremendous news. Tristan was mostly out of the picture! But the sad look on Hilda’s face let him know that this turn of events was hurting her. She probably wanted to be able to trust Tristan, but he had proved to be a different man than the one she initially fell in love with.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I should not be sulking,” she said quickly, getting up. “I think I should go to sleep. My feet really hurt. I suppose I’m lucky that I won’t succumb to the most terrible potential effects of pregnancy… there’s no way my teeth’ll fall out or I’ll end up turning blue.”</p><p>“Turning blue?” said Alaric, making a face. “That’s got to be a myth.”</p><p>She shook her head. “It isn’t. Rebekah read it in a manual when we were taking care of Hope. It can happen in the downstairs area, you know, with the hormones. Not to mention you can acquire varicose veins there, too. So it’s a good thing I won’t suffer any of that. And once they’re born, I’ll revert back to normal and not have to worry about hemorrhoids or tears in the perineum.”</p><p>Alaric helped her get comfortable on the bed, fluffing the pillows a bit for her. He had to help her sort of roll into the middle, because she was struggling to get a proper footing, and her arms felt weak. Once he made sure all was well with her, he went and fixed himself a spot on the couch.</p><p>When he woke up, he found that she had been awake for awhile, but had been unable to get up.</p><p>“Why didn’t you yell for me?” he said in shock. Overnight, her belly had grown to accommodate the five month twin fetuses, and the weight change had been sufficient in making her back too sore to sit up on her own. “You were just laying there for an hour unable to move!”</p><p>“I didn’t want to wake you up,” she said sheepishly. “In case you forgot, I’m used to distracting myself from pain, not asking people to help me. I think the worst has passed.” She held on tight to his shoulders as he pulled her to the edge of the bed, letting her feet touch the ground. She tentatively pressed the balls of her feet down, and with his help, stood up. It took a few minutes for her to adjust, but soon, she was able to walk on her own.</p><p>“I need to go shopping for clothes today,” she said as she made them some oatmeal. “I only brought two changes of clothes and I don’t fit in them anymore. I think my new wardrobe for the next four months is going to consist of only sweatpants, shorts, and baggy t-shirts. Thank goodness I don’t feel temperature as a vampire, or I might have lost my mind.”</p><p>“I think other people will lose their minds when they see you walking around with a t-shirt and shorts in the snow,” he teased. “I think Caroline is going to stop by in a little bit, she’ll probably want to go shopping with you. I’m <em>pretty</em> sure she’s assigned herself to be your guardian angel during this process.”</p><p>“I’d appreciate it,” said Hilda with a smile. “I mean, she’d be my sister-in-law if Klaus had swept her off her feet ages ago. But then, Hope wouldn’t have been able to be born…”</p><p>“Or she might’ve, and Caroline and Hayley would have been an unstoppable stepmom and mom duo,” said Alaric. “You said Hayley and Elijah had a thing, right? So Klaus would have still been available.”</p><p>“Ah, yes, my brother, the eligible bachelor.”</p><p>Caroline arrived ready to tackle the day. She had a list of things they needed to look into, and as Alaric had predicted, she’d arrived with a stack of books for Hilda to read. </p><p>“This is insane,” said Hilda in disbelief when she saw the poor selection of maternity clothes in the nearby stores. “Do they think pregnant women want to dress like wimps? There’s nothing fashionable in here. I think they should be putting more effort into ensuring that even when pregnant, we can look glamorous.”</p><p>Caroline giggled, and held up a dress. “Do you like this one?”</p><p>“I don’t need a dress,” said Hilda, blinking. “Unless there’s a party you’re not telling me about?”</p><p>“Oh, well, you’re going to have a baby shower eventually. Though, I guess you can pick a dress for that later… or just not wear a dress. Ooh, this shirt is pretty.”</p><p>They went to about seven stores, and Hilda didn’t end up buying as much as she thought she would. There were laundry machines for a reason. Caroline had taken her to get some comfortable shoes and bathrobes, some healthy cleaning products, some flasks that would conceal blood if Hilda was out and about and needed a drink, and some special pillows that might help her lay in a better position at night.</p><p>“Klaus is going to be very surprised to see all the things charged to the card,” mused Hilda as they made their way back from an ice cream shop, where they’d indulged in afternoon cones. Hilda had tried all the available flavors and had even taken an ice cream cake home for Alaric.</p><p>“You two certainly had a good time,” he said, seeing all the bags they came home with. He was in the kitchen with his laptop open and papers all over the place. He must have been grading some of his students’ assignments.</p><p>“Caroline knew exactly where to go to find all the good stuff,” Hilda said, trying to put her clothes away herself, only for Caroline to take the bags from her to do it instead. “Oh, come on, I’m not going to self-implode if I fold a few shirts.”</p><p>“You need to relax, we’ve been walking around all day,” said Caroline simply as she went to Hilda’s designated dresser.</p><p>“Darling, you forget I’m an Original vampire. It’s going to take more than a few hours of walking to make me feel like crap.”</p><p>“Be quiet and go put your feet up.”</p><p>Like a child, Hilda obediently moved to the couch and propped her feet up on one of the pillows Alaric wasn’t using.</p><p>By the time Caroline left, all of Hilda’s new purchases were ready to be put into use. Hilda thanked the blonde profusely as she walked out of the door. It seemed Caroline’s departure and the lack of conversation made Hilda’s cravings flare up, and the next thing she knew, she was digging into a jar of peanut butter after crumbling raisins over it.</p><p>Alaric cast her a weird look, but said nothing as he continued writing on some of the papers his students had given him. Hilda came to peer over her shoulder. “<em>Analysis of Architecture as It Pertains to Witches</em>,” she read off of the top. “And you gave him an F?”</p><p>“Plagiarism,” he said, flipping a few pages and pointing to a massive chunk of text that’d been copied. “Right from the textbook, no citations, no quotation marks. That’s the policy. If you’re going to use something from the provided resources, you paraphrase or quote and cite it.”</p><p>Hilda scrunched up her nose, dipping her spoon back into the jar. “Well, that’s sloppy.”</p><p>Alaric laughed. “Just know that, for any Chemistry reports you’re asked to do in the future. Ah, you’re going to love having to fill out fifteen pages of calculations.”</p><p>“That’s not too bad. As long as I understand the material, it won’t be too bad. Plus, super speed, I can finish it faster than normal.”</p><p>Her phone began to buzz, and she saw Freya was calling. She brought it to her ear. “How are things, sister?” she said.</p><p>“Well, it went as well as could be expected. It might take us another month to find Rebekah… we got very limited information from Tristan. Marcel helped him escape to prove himself to The Strix. I worry he’s in too deep. Thankfully, Cami is safe, Klaus is with her now.”</p><p>“Good,” she sighed, a bit relieved. But it concerned her to think of what’d happened with Tristan. “What did you do… to get that limited information?”</p><p>“We had to torture him. Hayley bit him a few times and Elijah got into his mind with my help. He was beat up, but he’ll survive.”</p><p>“It’s not that I’m worried about. It’s why he was so resistant.”</p><p>“I don’t know… but they’re probably planning something more. At least, we have this weapon that they could have used on our siblings— something called a Serratura. It’s in our possession and I will be researching how we can destroy it.”</p><p>“You’ll want to find a witch from the Tremé Coven. I think I heard about them making it. It’s one of the few dark objects of New Orleans that Kol and I didn’t create. You have to hide it if you can, Freya. If Tristan gets his hands on it again, The Strix witches might find someone to activate it for them, and then, it will be a problem.”</p><p>“He won’t get his hands on it. We’ll focus on finding Rebekah first, I promise. Are you feeling well?”</p><p>“For the most part. The cravings are <em>insane</em>, Freya. I’m eating peanut butter with raisins. And I have half a mind to drink some blood alongside it. I—” she suddenly stopped, her hand flying to her stomach. “Ouch. That wasn’t nice.”</p><p>Alaric got up immediately. “What’s wrong? What happened?”</p><p>Hilda didn’t answer at first, ignoring both Alaric and Freya’s questions. She closed her eyes and concentrated, moving her hand around before a knowing smile came to her face. “I think,” she said softly, “I just felt them kick for the first time.”</p><p>“Aw,” said Freya. “That’s sweet. I’ll let you go, then, take care.” She knew Alaric would probably want to focus on this new event, and Freya didn’t want to keep her sister on the line too long.</p><p>The call ended, and sure enough, Alaric moved forward. “Where?” he said eagerly.</p><p>Hilda took his hand and placed it where she’d felt the kick. “Oh!” she took his other hand and placed it on another spot. “They’re both kicking. Just wait…”</p><p>Three seconds later, Alaric felt two separate kicks. His eyes started to well up with tears of joy, and he laughed, kneeling down in front of Hilda and caressing over where the babies were apparently now playing a soccer game. “Hi,” he said quietly, leaning in as though talking to them through a glass window. “Oh wow…”</p><p>Hilda looked down, and found herself blushing as he leaned further in, beginning to talk to twins. This seemed to get them more excited, because they began to kick a bit more frequently. Could they actually hear him? She ignored the slight discomfort it brought. Alaric looked so happy, and she didn’t want to disturb that. </p><p>“I think the one on the right is going to be the troublemaker,” said Hilda lightly. “I can feel it kicking hardest… it wants all the attention. The other one seems almost shy… like it knows it hurts me a bit when they do that…”</p><p>“They’re perfect,” Alaric whispered, still running his hands along her stomach. He looked up and the two quickly looked away. Alaric cleared his throat and stood up. “Can I get you anything else? Something the twins might need?”</p><p>“I just need to lay down for a bit,” she said, feeling the kicking subside. “Ah, they seem to be tired, now. Little magical explosions with their feet, who would have thought…”</p><p>Nighttime fell, and Hilda was more easily able to get onto the bed on her own, hugging her new pillow and laying on her side. Alaric was still moving around; he’d showered then shaved then gone out for a run, thinking Hilda would be asleep by the time he came back. </p><p>When he saw she was wide awake and in a pensive state, he pulled up a chair and came to sit beside her with his laptop, grading a few of the online assignments to keep her company. She continued to hold her belly as she observed him, how his face scrunched up when he didn’t like what a student wrote, how his eyebrows shot up when he thought they made a good point. Even the sound of his fingers colliding with the keys was soothing to her, and she closed her eyes, hoping to drift off.</p><p>But she couldn’t. She wanted to be awake, to concentrate on how the babies’ hearts were beating. How Alaric’s heart was beating. How his breathing was steady. It was a sweet rhythm that made her feel like she was being rocked in a cradle, as she had been ages ago. She wondered if years ago, Mikael and Esther had gotten along this well. Had he sat by her side when they found out she was with child for the fifth time? They hadn’t known they were expecting twins until Hilda was born and they realized another baby was on the way. But if they had known, how would they have reacted? Did her parents once coexist peacefully like this? She expected so, but she had never seen it with her own eyes. Every last memory of them involved them hating each other.</p><p>She didn’t want that for these twins. Hilda had never stopped caring about Alaric and it was evident he had never stopped caring for her, either. That was a good sign. At least, they could function together and the twins wouldn’t arrive in a world with parents who hardly looked at each other. She wondered what their life would look like in the future. Hilda continued to rub her belly, trying to sense what the babies might be. Boys or girls? It might not matter, they could elect to change their identities in the future. The thought of that excited her. Getting to see these children grow up and learn about who they wanted to be. Witnessing how they learned about their minds and bodies and chose a path to follow. Maybe they’d both want to be astronauts. Or they’d be Olympic athletes. They might become healers, using their witch powers for the good of others.</p><p>“Alaric?” said Hilda quietly when she saw that he was done for the night. </p><p>He had not known she was still awake. “Yes?” he said, turning off the lamp beside him. </p><p>“I just wanted to say goodnight,” she whispered. “Sleep well.”</p><p>He smiled and helped her pull the blanket over herself. “You too, Hilda.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0051"><h2>51. Chapter 51</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Christmas rolled around, but Hilda was not in the mood to celebrate.</strong>
</p><p>She had only seen Damon and Stefan once, since she mostly remained in the house to read her books and would go out for walks. The brothers had lost their mother just recently, and she felt terrible knowing how close to the holiday it had happened. </p><p>She had gone to be a guest speaker in Alaric’s classes for one day to help them review for their final, and it had gone terribly. She kept needing to rush out to throw up with the smell of all the blood inside the students and the different foods they were bringing to class, but she couldn’t use her vampire speed in front of the students, so she had to sort of waddle out the door before speeding to the nearest bathroom. </p><p>Caroline was busy with who knows what (Hilda wasn’t sure why she liked to add so many things to her plate, but if she liked it…), meaning that Hilda had not been able to spend much time with her. This became a major bummer for the Original, because she and Caroline were getting along really well, and Hilda felt quite lonely.</p><p>That loneliness became worse as the holiday season settled in. Hilda found she missed her siblings, even Elijah. Though she was still angry at what he’d done, she missed getting to snicker with Klaus about how often Elijah adjusted his suit jacket. She missed his signature way of saying Klaus’s name. She missed Freya and Rebekah most of all.</p><p>She had tried to distract herself from her constantly varying emotions by reading the books Caroline assigned to her. Caroline had even signed Hilda and Alaric up for weekend birthing classes, which they were growing accustomed to attending. Hilda tried not to speak unless she was called on. And when she was, thankfully, she knew the answers because she had nothing else to do but catch up on the readings. </p><p>One particular class, however, had made her very angry.</p><p>They had just finished their session and were stacking the chairs when Hilda faltered, hearing the sound of one of the student couples having a conversation.</p><p>“That’s the guest speaker that Danielle told us about,” whispered the girl. “The pregnant one who kept having to throw up. She said Professor Saltzman said she was only a friend. They said she’s a child prodigy or something, that’s why she’s so young. Can you imagine… he knocked her up! He looks old enough to be her dad. Talk about daddy issues. How much do you want to bet that she doesn’t speak to her father?”</p><p>Hilda had tensed, and Alaric had frowned. “What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.</p><p>She didn’t respond, and continued to listen as the girl’s partner replied. “Yeah, I bet,” said the boy. “Can you imagine… she was probably still underage when they met and I bet as soon as she turned eighteen, he got in her pants. She looks the same age as my sister.”</p><p>“How about,” said Hilda loudly before Alaric could stop her, “we stop gossiping. Some of us have very potent hearing.”</p><p>The boy and the girl looked incredibly alarmed. “O-Oh,” the girl said shakily. “I-I’m— I didn’t—”</p><p>“Yes, you did, darling,” sneered Hilda. “For your information, yes, I don’t speak to my father, because he was an abusive piece of shit when he was alive. And two—”</p><p>Alaric yanked her back. “Let’s get you some food,” he said hastily. </p><p>Hilda cast the couple a cheeky smile as they ran out. “Brats. I’ll rip their throats out. It’ll teach them not to gossip…”</p><p>She felt everyone was judging her, and though she didn’t care, it bothered her that they had the audacity to say things. They didn’t know she could hear them. They had no idea that if they kept it up, they’d find themselves attending their own funeral soon. She wished she could ignore it, but the gossip was all around her, and she hated hearing people saying such things about her and Alaric. They didn’t know anything and she didn’t know what they gained from all the rumors. </p><p>On top of all the rudeness and longing for New Orleans, Hilda could not feel satisfied when it came to her cravings. Alaric was becoming increasingly concerned at the strange combinations she downed every day, and it was worse that no amount of blood seemed to satisfy her. She forced herself to drink only three blood bags a day, but she felt like consuming twelve. Before the pregnancy, she only ever drank around two daily for sustenance because it was enough.</p><p>“The blood bags just don’t taste good,” she sighed, looking overwhelmed as she sat at the kitchen counter, holding her head. Alaric had brought her a new stash but she wasn’t liking it even when he heated them up for her. “I need straight from the vein but I fear that all the hormones and cravings will turn me into a temporary Ripper. I don’t want to be feeding on people, either, I’m scared I’ll hurt someone. I don’t want to be a bad influence to the twins.”</p><p>Alaric had done what he thought she needed. He came to stand in front of her and unbuttoned the top of his shirt. “Feed on me,” he said. “I’ll tell you when to stop. That way, you’re getting it straight from the vein.”</p><p>Hilda turned red. “Are… are you sure?” she squeaked. Already, the veins were bulging up under her eyes. He nodded, and she stood up slowly, looking at him for approval. He let her move ahead, and she took his shoulders, moving closer and biting gently into his neck.</p><p>He gasped immediately, and she whimpered, grasping onto him tightly and continuing to drink. Alaric stumbled ever so slightly, and held tight onto the counter, his other hand going to her head, patting it affectionately and listening to her sighing in pleasure.</p><p>She could hear how hard his heart was thumping, and she tried to use it as a measure for when to stop. But his blood tasted <em>heavenly</em>. She didn’t know what it was— did it have to do with her feelings? Did it have to do with having his children inside of her, altering her vampiric physiology? </p><p>She was not sure, and she found she didn’t care. She just wanted more, and it was making her lose herself. She pulled him closer into her, yanking his shirt off to the side to have more room, her other hand tangling into his hair to hold him in place. He let out a groan and it made her bite in a bit more, which she noticed made his heart rate pick up even more.</p><p>“Hey,” he told her in a low voice, tapping her back once he felt himself grow dizzy. </p><p>She pulled away immediately, looking guilty as she wiped her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said instantly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you…”</p><p>“You didn’t,” he assured her, taking a cloth and pressing it on his neck. </p><p>She bit her lip and fiddled with her fingers. “Do you… want me to heal you?”</p><p>“No, it’s okay, I know you’re not very comfortable with giving people your blood,” he said dismissively.</p><p>But she looked so sad, like she didn’t want to offer unless he wanted to get rid of the marks she’d left on his neck. Realizing that she wanted to do it, but only if he asked her to, he gave in. “Yes, please,” he told her.</p><p>She bit into her wrist immediately and offered it to him. He took it and drank just a bit, feeling his neck pulsate as it started to heal.</p><p>This became their system. Alaric would let Hilda feed every time he came home, and she would heal him. It was enough to keep her satisfied, but it still made her feel guilty, despite his insistence that it was alright. </p><p>She felt exceedingly attached to him. The weeks had gone on and she had hardly spoken to Tristan, and there was Alaric, always at her beck and call, making her laugh, allowing her to feel some sort of comfort even though she felt so alone. </p><p>He had transitioned to sleeping beside her. Though she was not having nightmares, she often had trouble falling asleep, despite clutching her pillow so hard her knuckles turned white. He knew that she was thinking all the time, that she wanted her sisters there with her, that she felt guilty because he was pampering her. He couldn’t help it, he wanted her to be happy and comfortable, but his generosity was instilling a sensation that she couldn’t brush aside.</p><p>He assumed that she just wasn’t used to anyone showing her this much kindness. He knew that in the past, others had made her feel like a burden when they did her favors. Therefore, even though his actions were simple gestures, they made her feel as though she was being treated like a queen, and it left her squirming and flustered and overthinking, wondering if she even deserved it.</p><p>Alaric found that it calmed her when he came to lay beside her. She would curl up with her pillow, her face scrunched up as she tried to sleep. He got into the habit of rubbing her back just until he heard her breathing slow down. Sometimes, he’d give her a full massage to help her relax.</p><p>But he knew that nothing was helping her feel like she belonged here. She wanted to be in New Orleans, that much was evident. Caroline and the others were dealing with other problems, and neither Alaric nor Hilda was getting involved, meaning he was her only company these days, and though she Facetimed her siblings often, it was not the same as getting to be with them.</p><p>He supposed she felt more attached to them because she always thought that if she were starting a family, they’d be helping her along the way. No matter how often she fought with them, in the end, they were family, and this was a process she needed their support on. It was insufficient to see their faces through a screen.</p><p>Christmas morning left Hilda feeling bored and looking frustrated with the world.</p><p>“I thought, maybe, we could just have a relaxed day,” offered Alaric as he cooked some waffles, sausages, and bacon for them to enjoy. “We could go out for a long walk or just watch some movies…”</p><p>She was sitting on the kitchen island, staring at the surface of the counter. “They’ll be together,” she mumbled. “Elijah texted me yesterday saying he found Rebekah. She’ll be there with them.”</p><p>Alaric felt a pang in his heart. How stupid of him, to not have offered to take her down to New Orleans for the holidays. “We can catch a flight down,” he offered.</p><p>“No,” she mumbled. “It’s not safe. Tristan must know by now that I’m siding with my siblings. I fear he’ll try to hurt the babies. I don’t know who he is anymore. It’s safer here. And I don’t think I can manage a flight, I still feel ill.”</p><p>“We can drive, and make some stops along the way…”</p><p>“No, it will take too long, and I don’t fancy sitting down for so many hours. I wish they’d come here, but there’s too many of them and just…” she started to cry, which made him immediately turn off the waffle maker and the stove. This was the first time she’d cried since this whole thing had started.</p><p>“B-Bex will h-have them do a b-bonfire,” she sobbed, covering her face. “A-And K-Kol and I loved the b-bonfires… B-But K-Kol isn’t t-there… h-he’s not anywhere… I c-can’t bring him back… h-he doesn’t even know a-about the twins…” she sniffled loudly and pulled her shirt up to cover her face. “O-Oh… and n-now they’re moving around…” she put one hand on her belly. “T-They c-can sense I’m n-not happy and they’re t-trying to help b-but they don’t understand t-that it b-brings me discomfort…”</p><p>Alaric went to kneel in front of her. “What do you need?” he said immediately. “We can do a bonfire… we can see if Bonnie can do a spell to put the twins at ease… we can go do something fun to help distract you… I can set up my laptop for a video call so you can see your siblings better…”</p><p>Hilda only began to cry harder. “A-And you’re being s-so nice to me!” she wailed, as though this was a bad thing. “I-I don’t d-deserve it!”</p><p>“You do deserve it. You’re doing something important for me and I’ll forever be indebted to you. You’ve been so resilient and understanding this month and I think the twins are incredibly lucky that you’re going to raise them.”</p><p>The Original whimpered and covered her face, still sobbing inconsolably. Alaric stood and pulled her into a hug. She was trembling, and she grasped onto his shirt so that he couldn’t pull away.</p><p>Unfortunately, the news that day just got worse.</p><p>In the afternoon, Elijah had let her know that things were most certainly not alright with Rebekah. When The Strix had taken her down, they had used a weapon that left her afflicted with a sort of Insanity Curse. There was a skull mark on her inner wrist and she kept growing more and more violent. Freya had managed to do the counterspell, but Hilda warned that this might be only a temporary fix. Frantic, she’d tried to search everything she could with only the internet, but without access to the materials she had left behind in New Orleans, she came up empty handed.</p><p>“I need to find a siphon witch who specializes in dark magic,” she said, rubbing her temples. “That way, the curse won’t be able to come back.”</p><p>“You’re certain it will return?” said Rebekah shakily over the phone.</p><p>“I’m almost willing to bet my life on it. That’s very dark magic. It never has a simple fix. I mean… look at Kol. That spell Finn used to kill him was impossible to remove in such a short time span.”</p><p>Rebekah had tried to coax her into better topics, but Hilda felt distraught. “Tell me more about the twins, Hilly,” she said excitedly. </p><p>Hilda had spoken about it, but only because Rebekah asked for it. In reality, she would rather be searching for contact information for a witch that could help her. “Oh, Bex,” she whimpered, beginning to cry again. “I miss you idiots so much. Even Elijah, but don’t tell him I said that. When I fantasized about having children, I thought you and Freya would at least be at my side. But you’re so far, and I just…”</p><p>“Hilly, it’s alright,” Rebekah managed (she, too, was getting teary-eyed at the sound of her sister in pain). “We’re still here. Think of it as a nice surprise… we’ll help you from a distance so we can get a really nice gift on the day we get to meet the twins.”</p><p>Hilda swallowed hard, trying to convince herself of this, but her pessimistic mind wouldn’t allow it. “It’s just so difficult, Bex, you’re the one who knows and likes all this stuff. I don’t mind it, it’s thrilling, but I’m inexperienced and I’m so scared that these twins are only going to suffer at my hands because I’ll be such a terrible mother.”</p><p>“Don’t say that. You helped me care for Hope for months. You were present and attentive and so beyond kind. It might be a challenge to deal with two babies at once, but you need to give yourself more credit, Hilly. Those little ones are lucky to have you.”</p><p>Christmas had never felt so horrid for Hilda. She accepted Alaric’s offer to set up the laptop for a video call in the evening to enable her a good glimpse of her siblings, but it only made her long for New Orleans. Elijah, Klaus, and Jackson were dressed in their best formal outfits, and Freya, Cami, Hayley, and Rebekah looked amazing in the dresses they’d selected. Hilda had had to swallow back tears when they put Hope on the camera. She made an excuse about needing to have dinner with Alaric when she saw they were starting a bonfire, and had ended the call so abruptly, that Alaric hadn’t initially reacted to why the screen had gone dark until he heard Hilda crying again.</p><p>When they had eaten, she had gotten her coat immediately. “I need to go and walk around,” she said shakily. “I just need to clear my head… I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Don’t apologize,” he said. “It’s okay. Just text me if you need me to drive out to pick you up.”</p><p>She gave a small assent of her head to show she heard him and darted out, clutching the coat to her body only so passerbys wouldn’t think she was insane for being out in the snow in only a tank top. </p><p>She had no idea where she wanted to go, but she moved through the city, sometimes walking normally, and sometimes using her vampire speed to carry her through the place. She stopped at Whitmore College, thinking to just peruse through the buildings as if she was entering a story. A story where Hilda was pregnant but in the company of her siblings.</p><p>“Hilda!”</p><p>She turned to see Caroline coming her way. “Hi,” said Hilda shyly, looking at the ground. “Er, I fancied a walk.”</p><p>“Cool,” said Caroline, holding a Christmas wreath. “Come with me, keep me company.”</p><p>“Where are we going?” said Hilda. </p><p>“To visit my mom.”</p><p>The two vampires made their way rapidly through the city of Whitmore and to Mystic Falls. Hilda kept her eyes downcast as she held onto her belly, now reflecting her six month of pregnancy. She followed Caroline through several rows of tombs before reaching a more recent one, with a bench in front of  it. Hilda felt like she was intruding, but Caroline patted the bench and urged her to sit beside her.</p><p>“When I get overwhelmed,” Caroline started, setting the wreath over the tombstone, “I like to talk to those who aren’t physically here anymore. No matter how alone I feel, I know that I’m not, because somewhere out there, my mom is watching over me, and even if I’m in the opposite corner of the world, she will find me there.”</p><p>She cleared her throat and leaned forward. “Hi, Mom,” she said, closing her eyes. “I realized earlier this evening that this was going to be my first Christmas without you. That sucks. I still brought you a wreath… I know how much you liked those. My life has been… so complicated since you’ve been gone. But I wanted to tell you that Stefan and I are doing pretty well. I wish you were here so that you could see it. Everything feels out of place around me. All I want to do is just sit on our kitchen counter while you burn our dinner and ask you a million questions.” She took Hilda’s hand and sniffled. “God, I miss you. I know that you would have the best advice to give us all right now. And although I can’t see you, I know you’re here, and I know that one day, we’ll see each other again.”</p><p>Hilda squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Your mother sounded like an absolutely amazing woman,” she whispered. She looked down at the headstone bearing Elizabeth Forbes’s name. “My mother… wasn’t a very good person. Though she taught me the basics of magic, there were many things that kept us from being close. I cared for her from a distance. She wasn’t the type of parent one would want. But in being her child, I learned what I don’t want to be like. I want… I want to be like your mother, Caroline. I want to be this loved when I leave the world, and I want these twins… to know me as a good person, and not by all the terrible things I’ve done. I just wish that my sisters were here. I feel like you and Alaric are the only people are are at my side and checking up on me.”</p><p>Caroline caressed her arm in return. “You can’t see him,” she whispered, “but every day, Kol is right there beside you, making sure his big sister is healthy. I will always be here for you, even if I can’t fill the space your sisters should fit into right now. Know that Ric really, really cares about you. And he wants the best for you and the twins. You are worthy of all our help and affection, please know that you are worth so much. You are going to be a fantastic mom, Hilda. You learned about the pregnancy and you… you immediately chose to do what was best for the twins even if it meant you were going to feel sad. Ric tells me that you talk to the twins all the time, that you’re keeping up with the vitamins and the readings so you’re ready. That’s the sign of a good mother. You’re better than Esther ever was, and these twins are so incredibly lucky to be inside of you, thriving. We’re here for you, and things will get better. Ric and I can’t fill the void of your biological family, but we can be your family here.”</p><p>Hilda pulled her into a tight hug, relaxing into her hold, and feeling, just for a moment, that everything was well.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0052"><h2>52. Chapter 52</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>It seemed that the world had waited until the day after Christmas to make everything go to shit. </strong>
</p><p>The day had been going decently alright— Hilda had felt significantly happier and she’d fed from Alaric less than usual, which likely meant her cravings were getting under control. She had made a point to only rest, meaning she hadn’t moved from the couch more than a few times.</p><p>But in the evening when they’d both received some very disturbing phone calls.</p><p>Alaric’s phone had rang first. He had answered, and his face had quickly gone pale. “What?” he said quietly, making Hilda sit up and listen in.</p><p>“They stabbed them with that stupid Phoenix Stone Sword!” sobbed Caroline in distress. “J-Julian got Damon and w-when Stefan and I were trying to contact Valerie and Bonnie— Nora stabbed Stefan! They’re both trapped in there and we don’t know what to do and I know that you don’t want Hilda anywhere near Mystic Falls but d-do you think you could ask her i-if she knows anything… if there’s a spell B-Bonnie can try…”</p><p>Hilda held her belly as she sped over, taking the phone. “I’ll write a spell,” she told her, setting the phone onto her shoulder to go look for a piece of paper. “I don’t know how accurate it will be, but I think it might work. It’s going to take a lot of power, though, I think Bonnie might need to channel something. It might take several attempts to get close— she won’t be familiar with this sort of magic. I’d offer for her to channel me but I don’t know what adverse effects that might have on the babies.”</p><p>“T-Thank you,” sniffled Caroline. </p><p>Hilda had gotten to writing the spell as soon as she handed the phone back to Alaric, who tried to calm Caroline down, since it seemed neither Valerie nor Bonnie was available. She scribbled and crossed lines, biting her lip hard and concentrating as she hunched over the table, doing her best to make it as accurate as possible.</p><p>“Absolutely not, Caroline,” she heard Alaric say, which made her perk up.</p><p>“She’s an Original!” said Caroline. “None of us stand a chance against Julian because he’s so much older, but if Valerie and Bonnie were to do a spell to protect the twins—”</p><p>“It’s too risky. Hilda’s not in any condition to fight, even if she’s stronger than Julian.”</p><p>“Alright… fine. I just hope the spell works.”</p><p>“Done,” said Hilda just after Alaric ended the call, leaving a worried Caroline to try to contact Valerie and Bonnie once again. “Here— send her a picture of this. If it’s really not working, I might need to try and refine it. Damn it… I wish Kol were here… he knows more about the Phoenix Stone… he had an affair with a girl who knew a lot about it, and that Rayna Cruz bit—” she stopped and gripped the counter tightly, nearly collapsing when she stepped out of the chair.</p><p>“Woah—” Alaric dove forward and caught her before she crumpled to the ground, holding her head. “Hilda— are you okay? Maybe you need more blood—”</p><p>“Just felt lightheaded,” she said quietly, scrunching up her face as he set her back in the chair. “Really random…”</p><p>“Are you sure you don’t need to feed more?” he said, offering her his wrist.</p><p>She shook her head, pushing his hand away. “No. I just—” she coughed, and covered her mouth before speeding to the bathroom, falling in front of the toilet and beginning to vomit again.</p><p>Alaric ran over immediately, tugging the strands of her hair back as she gripped the bowl tightly, gagging and spitting, her eyes watery. She seemed to have thrown up some blood, from what she’d eaten earlier. </p><p>“What do you feel?” he asked, offering her some toilet paper to wipe her mouth. “Is it just nausea, or is something wrong?”</p><p>“Nausea… I think,” she murmured, sinking back and leaning against the wall, her face pale and sweaty as she reached a shaky hand over to flush the toilet. She closed her eyes and felt over her belly. “I can hear their heartbeats… they’re fine. I think I just got too excited and it was too overwhelming of a jump after being so inactive today.”</p><p>He stood and took a towel, wetting it before setting it on the back of her neck. He came to sit beside her, and she leaned onto his shoulder immediately, groaning quietly. “Or it was the turkey,” she said a bit teasingly. </p><p>“Hey, I make a good turkey,” he said, pretending to be offended as he reached an arm over to dab her face with one of the other towels. </p><p>“Oh, it was excellent, but the leftovers today might not have sat all that well.” She drew several deep breaths and sat up straight. “I think it passed…”</p><p>The sound of Hilda’s phone ringing made them both perk up. “I’ll get it,” said Alaric, since he didn’t want her trying to get up in a rush. He moved quickly to retrieve it before bringing it to her as she lifted herself slowly and lowered the lid of the toilet to sit on it. “Hello?”</p><p>“H-Hilda?”</p><p>“Hayley,” said Hilda, her face falling into a frown. “What happened?”</p><p>“I… I…”</p><p>“I can tell her, love, I think you ought to go rest,” came Klaus’s voice. There was the sound of Hayley sobbing, and a ‘woosh’ to indicate she had sped away. “She wanted to be the one to tell you, but…”</p><p>“What happened, Nik?” said Hilda shakily, her heart already racing. </p><p>“There are… several things to discuss. One, there is a letter heading your way, from Tristan.”</p><p>She swallowed hard and looked up at Alaric, who seemed worried. “Alright… but why…”</p><p>“He may not have known that today would be the day he was dropped into the bottom of the ocean, but I believe he meant to say goodbye, because he knew he would not survive much longer after what he planned to do.”</p><p>Hilda’s hand flew to cover her mouth. “Nik, please, just tell me, I can’t stand not knowing…”</p><p>He heaved a great sigh. “He killed Jackson.”</p><p>She nearly dropped the phone, and let out a strangled croak, her eyes immediately welling up with tears. “No— no— why—”</p><p>“He sought to retaliate after Hayley aided in his torture,” whispered Klaus as Alaric moved to rub Hilda’s back amidst her sobs. “He kidnapped her and Jackson, and she… had to watch his heart be torn out. They tried to make a trade… we were a step ahead, and the Serratura is now in use, so that it may never trap any of us.”</p><p>“H-How did you manage that?” she whimpered. “N-No one l-living or d-dead can pass t-through that barrier…”</p><p>There was a pause. “It would seem… Aurora’s torment of Camille was not at its end. Last night after the party… she had been compelled to kill herself after ingesting her blood. She was in transition, and she only just completed it now, meaning she was able to pass through the barrier. The Strix have lost their leader, and though they relented and have let us have peace at least for the funeral… I am concerned that Aya will take control.”</p><p>Hilda covered her face and tried to breathe steadily, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult. “Oh god, Nik… this can’t… this can’t be happening… if I had been there, he never would have dared…”</p><p>“On the contrary, sister… I think he would have. I fear that he was going to follow his agenda whether you agreed or not. Perhaps he was going to protect you, and perhaps Lucien and Aurora were asked to leave you unharmed, but he never said he wouldn’t harm the rest of us.”</p><p>Hilda cried for the rest of the night. </p><p>Alaric recalled what she had told him that summer he had come back to life. She had explained how sometimes when she couldn’t lash out or was too tormented with guilt and pain, she went into a brief or stretched out depressive state that was difficult to get out of. It had happened that day that Kol had wanted to kill Elena, but the guilt of seeing her mourning her own brother had taken a toll on Hilda and kept her from aiding her twin in killing the poor girl. When Kol had died both times, the guilt of not having been able to do anything had left her inconsolable for weeks on end.</p><p>And now, the same thing seemed to have happened.</p><p>He was doing his best to keep her mind occupied, but she hardly showed any signs of engagement. He slept beside her every night, rubbing her back and trying to soothe her by reminding her that Jackson’s death wasn’t her fault, despite the fact that she felt like it was due to her attachment to Tristan. He let her feed more often and he tried to keep her satisfied with her snacks. She spoke to him only when she needed to, and wouldn’t say a word to Caroline at all, but the thing that let him know that she would be okay, no matter how long it took, was that he could always see her talking to the twins.</p><p>It was her sweet distraction. He’d come home from a run and saw the bathroom door closed, expecting she was taking a bath or a shower. He learned it was a bath when he didn’t hear the running water, and when he’d gone to get his clothes ready to shower after she was done, he’d stopped to listen to her voice. At first, he thought she was speaking on the phone with someone. Then, he realized she was having a conversation with the twins.</p><p>“...and the two of you are too small to know what I’m talking about, and you won’t remember this at all, but I need you to know that it’s not okay to do things like this. I don’t know if I’ll ever admit this to you upfront… or if I’ll ever let you hear the horror stories roaming around about me and my siblings… but killing people isn’t okay. Life is precious for every species and it has taken me too long to learn that my habits are harmful. I think having the two of you inside of me has taught me more self control. I know that I have to lead a better life and be a good example for you because I want you to turn out better than I did. I want you to know that it’s okay to choose your family, that it’s okay to take another path in life. But it’s not okay to ruin someone else’s. I fear that when you are born, I will revert to my unhealthy patterns. It’s difficult for me to control it. I can’t take medication to be at ease. I don’t like therapy because there’s so much to unravel and it never helps. I just hope that you always have each other, and you never have to lose your twin the way I lost your uncle Kol, or the way your mother lost her brother. They were different circumstances… but family should never forsake each other. We were ruined, and only now am I managing to reconnect with my siblings in a healthy way. I suppose I have you to thank for that. I hope the two of you are like your mother and your father and not like me. Still, I hope that I will be able to raise you the way you deserve.”</p><p>He had smiled to himself, and he’d tiptoed away, though she could probably hear him, because she had stopped talking.</p><p>Tristan’s letter had arrived quite late, but Hilda had been doing significantly better when it came time to read it.</p><p>She sat on the bed, massaging her belly as she opened the envelope and smoothed out the parchment.</p><p>
  <em>"My dearest Hilda,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I doubt I will ever be able to see you again. By the time this letter reaches you, I believe I will be dead or fleeing the wrath of your siblings. Perhaps your wrath, too.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I let my plan for revenge ruin what we might have rekindled. That night we saw each other again was the best night of my life. But it was wrong of me to kiss you, to hold you, to lay with you as before without first telling you what I intended. I should have been honest. I should have been understanding when your plans did not coincide with mine. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I brought suffering onto your family for my selfish gains. In trying to protect myself and my sister, I killed someone you cared for. After centuries of resentment, I did not think of first trying to re-establish our love. We could have had something incredible and I took you for granted. I hope that one day you can forgive me, though I will understand if you can’t. In wanting to hurt Hayley, I have hurt you.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I am not worthy of you and I don’t believe I ever was. Though my cruel actions in the past were a result of compulsion, I take ownership of the fact that everything I have done is off my own accord. I take accountability for the fact that I am no longer the man you knew in the castle.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You deserve to be happy, and if you can find that with the man whose children you carry, then it ought to be so. I have never seen you so inclined to do such a tremendous favor for anyone. I know in my heart that when you met him, you met your soulmate. Perhaps you have not yet realized it yet, but I guarantee— that man adores you and will treat you better than I ever could. I can see a profound connection between the two of you that I have only ever witnessed in films. You have become the best version of yourself. You are set to become a mother, something you never expected. And I know you will be good at it— a better guardian than my father and yours were, and a kinder influence than your mother was. You astound me, Hilda. I cannot believe I was ever fortunate enough to be yours, and to have been blessed with your love. Alaric is a lucky man, and those twins are even luckier.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I wish the best for you and your growing family. I apologize for not having done a better job of showing you your worth. I don’t know when my permanent death will arrive, but I promise you that until my very last moment, I will think of you.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>With respect, admiration, and love forever,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tristan de Martel."</em>
</p><p>The paper was stained with her tears as she finished reading it. She knew it was truly over, and she knew that it was going to be time to move on. She had held onto the idea of Tristan for so long. She was healed, and she knew that in time, she had the freedom and peace of mind to be with whoever she wanted to be.</p><p>She folded the letter carefully, leaning her head back and squeezing her eyes tightly, gasping for breath as she shoved it back into the envelope. She whimpered and started to sob, curling up on the bed and hugging her pillow.</p><p>When Alaric found her, she was asleep, but her cheeks were still stained from how much she had cried. He was tempted to read the letter, but he respectfully withdrew his curious hand, choosing to tuck her in and lay with her for a bit, just to hear her breathing steadily.</p><p>In January, her courses began, and little by little, he saw how she truly blossomed.</p><p>Despite constant drowsiness and nausea, she was enjoying her classes. Every day, she came home with a grin, mentioning how she spoke with her different Professors about complex things that they hadn’t expected her to understand. She enjoyed doing the notes, and would often speak with the twins about what she was doing, saying that maybe, she’d make them naturally good at Chemistry.</p><p>Her belly continued to grow, and she devoted herself to reading every book Caroline recommended and making the necessary preparations as her delivery date grew nearer. She took her vitamins, Facetimed her siblings to ask for advice and to check in on them, and sometimes just stopped, relaxed, and listened to the two little heartbeats.</p><p>Caroline was a constant that Hilda appreciated immensely. She was generous and supportive of the silly questions Hilda asked about things she genuinely didn’t understand. Caroline would accompany Hilda and Alaric to doctor’s appointments to ensure they didn’t have to worry about anything other than getting information from the doctor. She would be there to voice her concerns and make sure that Hilda and the twins were getting the best care possible.</p><p>“Okay, then,” said the nurse at one appointment in February. “Ultrasound looks great. Now, would you like to find out the gender of the babies?”</p><p>Hilda looked up at Alaric, who nodded. The nurse put the wand back against Hilda’s belly, moving around the gel. “Here’s Baby A,” she said, pointing at the screen. </p><p>“That’s the more active one,” said Hilda knowingly, craning her neck up to be able to see the blurred black and white image. </p><p>“It’s a girl,” said the nurse, making Alaric grin as the wand was moved to the other side. “Now, Baby B…”</p><p>“The calm one, but with the faster heartbeat,” recited Hilda. “I bet that one’s going to be keeping the other one in check. Maybe it’s stressed that the other one kicks so much.”</p><p>The nurse laughed. “Baby B is also a girl.”</p><p>Alaric sighed in content. “That’s amazing.” He then paused, and held up a finger. “But, of course, in the future, they get to identify however they want, and we will be supportive of it.”</p><p>Caroline smiled and clapped off to the side as the nurse wiped the gel off of Hilda’s belly and helped her stand up. "See?" said Hilda with a grin. "You're ready to be a dad."</p><p>In Mystic Falls, Hilda’s spell had done the trick. Though it had taken a while, Valerie and Bonnie had been able to wake Damon and Stefan, though it was unadvisable for them to visit, because they seemed to be struggling with knowing what was real and what was not.</p><p>“It’s <em>The Hunger Games</em> all over again,” said Hilda when Caroline texted them the news. “Peeta in <em>Mockingjay</em>…”</p><p>Alaric laughed. “Is it bad that I’m still surprised that you’ve read that? I know you’d probably read a lot of the classics like, the instant they came out, but it feels so bizarre that you sat through <em>Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight, Percy Jackson, Divergent</em>…”</p><p>“That’s what the twins will likely grow up reading,” she said knowingly. “I need to be well educated on it.”</p><p>Her feelings were at an all time high. </p><p>Alaric was such a sweetheart, it made her chest nearly ache from gratitude. He was getting in the habit of hugging her from behind to help her hold up her belly for a bit, on days when she got particularly drowsy and needed a break from the weight of the twins. He’d do her laundry for her and have her food prepared before she even woke up. He slept closer to her, too, making sure she continued to have a dreamless sleep, since he knew she could be prone to nightmares if she slept alone. She found she blushed every time she saw him change his shirt, even though she’d been watching him do it for months. His morning voice made her shiver, and with her hormones at an all time high, it took significant effort for her not to push him onto the bed and climb on top of him when she was feeding from his neck. </p><p>It was so bloody hard to keep her mind from wandering off. She found herself entering dirty fantasies about ten times a day, and she was glad he couldn't hear the way her heartbeat picked up. She would drift off, imagining the way he'd groan when she started to feed on him. What she wanted to do was tear his shirt off and pin him to any surface she could find (she wasn't picky) and just go all the way after so many times that she held back in the past. She was tempted to sit on the counter and pull him in for a heated kiss while she reached her hand down his pants. She wanted him to take her right then and there, caressing her hips and making her moan out his name. Half the time, she had to shake her head very hard to stop thinking of that, and nearly always, her cheeks burned when she realized she'd zoned off. </p><p>He was struggling in a similar manner.</p><p>Everything she did was captivating. He loved to see her talking to the twins as though they were standing in front of her. She sang to them very softly when she thought he wasn’t listening, and in the middle of the night, she’d cuddle up to him and hold on, which tempted him to kiss her forehead. She complained that her feet were swollen and that she looked blotchy or just ‘dead’ whenever she came home from class after a particularly lecture-heavy day. But he thought she looked beautiful, and for the first time, he could see light consistently shining in her dark eyes. </p><p>He fantasized about her more than he would ever dare admit to anyone. He'd wanted her since the first time he ever kissed her, back in the Mikaelson Manor— wow, <em>three years ago</em>. He had held back then, knowing she wasn't comfortable with it, and it had been fine with him. Now, he was wishing the twins were born already so that he could bend her over the couch and listen to all the noises she'd make when he reached around to hold her by the throat, whispering dirty things in her ear and making her shake and beg for more. </p><p>But he felt it was wrong, and that always managed to cut his fantasies off, leaving him feeling like he was a terrible person. Was it cruel to forget Jo? No, he was not forgetting her, he still thought of her every day. However, Hilda occupied his mind so heavily that a sense of guilt flooded through his body. He felt he was being disrespectful to Jo’s memory. Hilda often spoke to the twins about Jo and how wonderful she had been, and it made him smile, but he didn’t know whether it was more because of the mention of Jo, or because of how soft Hilda’s voice sounded when she said. He felt something stirring within him that scared him, something he didn’t want to voice, not this soon. He thought Hilda would hate him for saying it, that whenever Jo was, she would be hurt to know he felt this way.</p><p>But he was almost certain that he loved Hilda Mikaelson.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0053"><h2>53. Chapter 53</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda was surprised with a baby shower.</strong>
</p><p>She’d suspected nothing when Caroline found her after her Physical Chemistry class and asked her to come see something in her dorm room.</p><p>What she found was that the lounge on Caroline’s dorm floor had been decorated with pink quite literally <em>everywhere</em>, and nearly all the friend group from Mystic Falls was present, along with several of Ric’s (non-judgmental) students who he got along well with.</p><p>“Surprise!” they cried, making Hilda clutch her belly in shock.</p><p>“Oh, wow,” she squeaked, looking over where they had already created a massive stack of presents. The guests seemed to be enjoying some homemade cupcakes and alcoholic drinks out of baby bottles. Caroline tugged Hilda’s arm and pulled her to sit in a grandiose rocking chair near the present table.</p><p>“Just because I know you’ve still been feeling drowsy,” she said happily. “Do you like it?”</p><p>Hilda smiled. “Yes, I do.” And this was true— she did like it. </p><p>It just made her sad that none of the faces here were that of her siblings.</p><p>Since December, it seemed things had only gotten worse in New Orleans. Hayley was in the process of recovering from the trauma and loss of Jackson’s death, Cami was adjusting to being a vampire, Aurora was still causing a multitude of problems, and The Strix seemed to be reeling Davina into their Coven. And what’s more, Rebekah still needed to be daggered to keep the Insanity Curse from kicking into action and making her kill someone.</p><p>The young witch had called Hilda at the beginning of March.</p><p>“Hey,” said Davina sweetly. “I know we haven’t talked and I’m sorry, I haven’t been doing the greatest.”</p><p>Hilda knew this, as Freya had told her that Davina had been shunned. “It’s alright,” she said smoothly. “I’ve been really occupied and I don’t hold it against you. Are you doing better?”</p><p>“I am. And I have some good news. I was offered a place in The Strix Coven.”</p><p>Hilda had gone rigid. “Why is that good news?” she murmured darkly. “Davina— they can’t be trusted, not after Tristan lost control of them.”</p><p>“It’s okay! Marcel is in charge, not Aya.”</p><p>“She still bears a heavy influence. What— what did they promise you?”</p><p>“It wasn’t a simple promise— they already gave me the spell to resurrect Kol. I showed it to him!”</p><p>“What? But how did you…?”</p><p>“I needed to verify that it was true. I didn’t want to get your hopes up, so I went into the Ancestral Realm and I saw Kol there. They’ve been beating him up a lot, but he can’t die. He said the spell is accurate, but he told me that I should find another way.”</p><p>“Listen, if Kol believes you need to find another way, then you do. We know Strix spells, we can reproduce them and find another Coven to attempt it while channeling me once I give birth. But under no circumstances do I advise for you to go through with this. They will stab you in the back, Davina, that Coven has always been dangerous. I was fine pitching in when I thought Tristan would take lead and help me get my brother back, but even with Marcel in power, Aya can easily sway those little brats who perform their spells. Do you not see a pattern? Young girls with no family? They take everything and keep you trapped there for as long as you may live. Trust me, this is not the path you want to go down. Why— why would they even give you such a powerful spell? What are they making you do to earn it?”</p><p>This had put Davina in an uncomfortable position. “Oh… they’re just… um, you know, Locator Spells and Strengthening Spells…”</p><p>“That’s a fat ruddy lie and you know it.”</p><p>“Hilda, I can’t tell you, okay. You’re safe where you are and you’ll want to come down here.”</p><p>“Davina!” she snapped. “You have to get out of that bloody Coven, or so help me, I’ll go there and yank you out myself!”</p><p>“No. I can tell you something else, though.”</p><p>“What is it?”</p><p>“When I saw Kol… I took the liberty of telling him about your situation since I know none of your siblings would have been able to contact him in here.”</p><p>Hilda instantly forgot her flared anger, and her expression softened. “Oh. What did he say?”</p><p>“He was really confused at first but I did my best to explain it in the short time we had, and he started laughing and said something along the lines of, <em>‘I always knew she’d find her way back to Alaric.’</em> Then he said that if I saw you, I should tell you congratulations and that he’s excited to see you becoming a mom. Um— well, he said <em>mum</em>, not mom, but you get the idea. He says that hopefully when he comes back, he’ll be able to be ‘Uncle Kol’ to the twins.”</p><p>Hilda found that tears had formed in her eyes. She shut them and drew a deep breath. “Thank you, Davina,” she whispered. “Just please… be careful. The Strix are not going to take ‘no’ for an answer if you realize that you don’t want to do what they’re asking of you.”</p><p>“Oh, trust me. I do want to do it.”</p><p>And thus, Hilda would have no idea that Davina planned to unlink Elijah and Klaus from their sirelines.</p><p>She tried her best to enjoy the baby shower, even though there was a blatant absence of any other Mikaelson faces.</p><p>She watched Tyler Lockwood and Matt Donovan tease about the alcohol in the baby bottles, and she imagined Kol and Klaus would be cracking jokes with them. </p><p>She watched Caroline, Bonnie, and Valerie giggling about a cute onesie set that someone had brought for the twins, and pictured Freya, Hayley, and Rebekah beside them, talking about how adorable the girls would look in them once they were born.</p><p>And she even pictured Elijah and Finn chatting off to the side with Alaric, who had not arrived yet, but would soon.</p><p>Perhaps, in another reality, Mikael and Esther would have been at her side, giving her tips. And darling Henrik would be grinning, all grown up, talking about becoming an uncle.</p><p>“Hey,” said Alaric, coming in and setting down his bag as he tapped Hilda’s shoulder. “Sorry I was late, I just finished my lecture.”</p><p>She offered him a smile, but looked away quickly, because a blush had flooded into her face. “It’s alright. They’re all just admiring the little presents and such. I wonder if Caroline planned any games. I’ve seen many different ones over the centuries…”</p><p>Caroline, to no one’s surprise, had of course planned games.</p><p>The first consisted of getting the attending males to try and put a diaper on a plastic baby while blindfolded. Matt, Tyler, and two of the students had competed against Alaric, and they’d had thirty seconds to try and put the diaper on correctly.</p><p>To no one’s surprise, Alaric won. He tore off the blindfold and looked at the various states of disarray that the plastic babies were in. Tyler’s was missing its head, Matt’s had the diaper over its skull, and the two other students had placed the diaper along the limbs but in the wrong orientation. </p><p>The next game had been for the women, and they had prepared diapers with melted chocolate inside of different sorts. Caroline listed off which chocolates were in the mix— there were variations of Hersheys, Milky Way, Almond Joy, among others, and whoever guessed the most right would win.</p><p>The college students who did not know about vampires were not sure how Hilda managed to guess every single one right away. They assumed maybe she knew about the game beforehand and practiced. </p><p>There had been another game with toilet paper, where each guest had to prepare as many squares as they thought were needed to go around Hilda’s belly. The majority of the guesses had been wildly inaccurate— either too small or too big— but Bonnie had gotten it within a centimeter of accuracy, therefore she took the prize for that one.</p><p>At the end of the day, Hilda had gone home with Alaric, the backseat filled with the different presents they’d been given them. She tried to help with a few of them, but he insisted that she go up and rest instead of helping him carry everything.</p><p>In the time it took her to make a small dinner for the both of them, he had to take several trips to bring up all the presents, but at last, the couch was filled with them.</p><p>“That was sweet of them,” she said when they finished eating. “Some cute things in there. I expect Hayley and Klaus will be sending some of Hope’s old things, too— she’s growing out of them.”</p><p>“That’ll be good,” he said, going to the closet and bringing out a small bag. She watched as he opened it and started putting some clothes in.</p><p>“Where are you off to?” she asked curiously.</p><p>He sighed when he closed the bag, and came to sit beside her. “I know I should have talked this over with you before, but I’m thinking that we should leave Mystic Falls once the twins are born.”</p><p>She blinked. “Well, where do you want to go?”</p><p>“I applied for this job in Texas. Professor of Supernatural Anthropology at one of the universities down there. It’ll be less work than here, so I can be home more often. We established that you want to help raise the twins, and I thought… Texas is far enough from Mystic Falls but close enough to New Orleans. You’ll be closer to your family and we’ll make sure the twins aren’t raised in this area. I just don’t think it’s safe. I hope you’re not angry.”</p><p>“Why would I be angry, Ric? This is your choice for what’s best for your daughters, and I agree. I think that it’s a good idea.”</p><p>“I’ll be flying to Texas tomorrow for the job interview— I got the letter today letting me know they’re interested in hiring me.”</p><p>Hilda smiled and put her hand on his. “Then I’ll stay here getting all the presents sorted and put away. And don’t worry, it’s not any heavy lifting. We still haven’t gotten a stroller or car seats, so for now, all is well. It’s just clothes that needs to be folded.”</p><p>It seemed, for just a moment, that they both intended to lean in. They were staring into each other’s eyes, hands still linked, and it felt like the right thing to do was to kiss.</p><p>But neither did anything. Hilda cleared her throat and let go, getting up slowly and going to the bed. “I think I’m going to go to bed early today. I don’t have class tomorrow… I’ll need to get a headstart on packing. It’s only a few weeks until the twins arrive.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Alaric said quietly, internally cursing himself. “I’ll have left by seven for the airport.”</p><p>By the time she woke up the next morning, he was gone. Biting her lip and trying to focus on the task at hand, she had a quick breakfast of oatmeal with apple slices and raisins before getting to sorting clothes.</p><p>Caroline had come over around noon to help (apparently, no one thought Hilda could manage folding a few onesies by herself). They had taken a break to make some gelatin, but afterward, Hilda hadn’t felt too well.</p><p>“Hold on,” she panted a bit, having felt dizzy when she got up. “Just need… a breather…” she gripped the counter as her knees began to shake.</p><p>“Hilda, what’s wrong?” said Caroline, immediately alarmed.</p><p>The Original shook her head at first, thinking the feeling would fade. “Every damn month,” she muttered. “I get more and more dizzy…” she swayed, and Caroline barely caught her before she sank to her knees.</p><p>“That’s it, we’re going to the hospital,” said the blonde as Hilda slumped into her, trying to protest.</p><p>“M’fine,” she said, though it was a bit slurred. “Just… tired…”</p><p>“You’ve gone all pale and you can hardly string three words together— we’re going to the hospital.”</p><p>Hilda hadn’t had the strength to argue. Caroline had to pull her down the stairs as careful as she could and get her settled into the passenger’s seat, reclining her chair so she could try and relax. But it didn’t made Hilda feel any better. In fact, all she felt now was pain.</p><p>“Caroline, there aren’t contractions,” she moaned weekly, spots appearing in her vision. “They’re calm…”</p><p>“Well then, what is it?” said the blonde as she parked and quickly got out to help Hilda. “If you’re not going into labor, why are you all weak?”</p><p>“I dunno,” she mumbled, covering her eyes. It was just too bright outside.</p><p>She was taken into a room by the nurses, who got her a wheelchair immediately. Hilda was hardly conscious, and her face was beaded with sweat, as though she’d just run a marathon.</p><p>“Your blood pressure dropped quite drastically, and you’re dehydrated,” said the nurse when she examined her. She hooked her up to an IV and gave her a cold cloth for her forehead. “Just try to relax, honey, it’s okay.” She brought over the ultrasound machine and began to check on the twins. “Yup, everything looks good. The babies are just worried about their mama.”</p><p>Hilda was in no mood to find this even slightly amusing, but she said a respectful ‘thank you,’ as the nurse left the room.</p><p>“I’m calling Valerie,” said Caroline, holding her phone to her ear. “She might be able to give you a more magical examination.”</p><p>The Heretic arrived and immediately put her hands over Hilda’s belly. The Original whimpered at the sensation of her cold hands, and Valerie had only to move her palms a bit over the surface before her face went a bit pale.</p><p>“Hilda,” she said, coming over to make sure she was still sufficiently conscious. “Where’s your phone?”</p><p>“Pocket,” she mumbled.</p><p>Caroline dug under the gown for the phone, and pulled it out. Valerie nodded, and said, “Good, now call her sister Freya.”</p><p>“What’s… the matter?” whispered Hilda. “Why Freya…”</p><p>“You’re not well enough to fact-check me on this and I believe she might have a decent understanding of what's happening.” </p><p>Valerie dialed Freya’s number, and three rings later, Hilda heard her sister’s voice projected around the room. “Hello? Is everything okay, Hilda?”</p><p>“It’s Caroline,” piped up the blonde, since Freya knew her better. “Valerie and I are here with Hilda in the hospital.”</p><p>“Oh my— did she go into labor already?” Several excited voices could be heard in the background, trying to get Freya to ask for proper confirmation.</p><p>“No, she didn't,” said Valerie. “She’s not well, Freya, but I believe I know why and I am certain I have a solution.”</p><p>“What’s the matter? Did she collapse?”</p><p>“She did. The twins— I think they are siphons, like me, and over time, they’ve been feeding off of her blood and magical energy. In a normal vampire— for example, if Caroline had carried them— this would have induced desiccation and most likely, permanent death. But Hilda’s an Original— no siphon can kill her no matter how much magic they take. These past months, the babies have been growing like princesses because they have a warm place to reside in that’s brimming with magic. If I create a talisman, I can keep them from siphoning off of her too much, meaning she should be able to last for another few weeks, just on bedrest.”</p><p>Freya understood. “Yes, I think that would work. Oh dear… no wonder she’s felt so drowsy, all those times they got overexcited, they were practically sucking the life out of her without making her drop dead. Is she awake? May I speak with her?”</p><p>Valerie handed the phone to Hilda, who was still groggy. “Freya,” she mumbled. “Hello…”</p><p>“Hello, sister,” Freya said gently. “Valerie is going to do a spell to keep the twins from taking anymore magic, but it will hurt just a bit, since you’ve grown so used to them feeding on your power. It will help you feel better.”</p><p>Hilda just ran her tongue over her lips. “Okay… Freya…”</p><p>“I’ll stay on the line and tell you what’s been going on over here, if you’d like.”</p><p>“Mhm… please.”</p><p>Valerie began the spell, using her own bracelet and fastening it to Hilda’s wrist in order to forge it into a talisman. The entire while, Caroline held Hilda’s other hand and supported the phone on her shoulder so she could listen to Freya speaking about Hope and a particular wooden toy that Klaus had made for Rebekah long ago, which was the last of the White Oak. Though this worried Hilda, it certainly distracted her from the pain.</p><p>“There you go,” sighed Valerie as the talisman glowed. Almost instantly, Hilda felt a weight being lifted off of her, and she groaned in satisfaction.</p><p>“Do you feel better, sister?” asked Freya.</p><p>“I do,” managed Hilda. “Thank you, Freya. We’ll speak soon.”</p><p>“Of course, take care. Everyone sends their greetings.”</p><p>When they hung up the call, Caroline helped to clean the rest of Hilda’s face with the provided cloth. “I think you should stay here overnight just in case. Tomorrow, we can drive you back to the apartment.”</p><p>Hilda smiled up appreciatively. “Thank you both… so much.”</p><p>“You’re very welcome,” said Valerie pleasantly, shouldering her bag and leaving. Caroline remained at Hilda’s side for the next several hours, even when she fell asleep.</p><p>In the morning, however, it was evident that the spell had not changed a thing.</p><p>“C-Caroline,” wheezed Hilda when she woke up and immediately started feeling a pounding sensation in her head and tummy. “Caroline—“</p><p>The vampire shot awake. “What’s wrong? I— oh my God!”</p><p>Hilda wasn’t desiccated, but her skin had taken a greyish tint, and she looked worse than the day before. Her lips were swollen and her eyes were red, as though she had rubbed them too hard.</p><p>Valerie had arrived fifteen minutes later with Stefan in tow. “These babies need to be born today,” she said gravely. “They’ll only leave you in a world of discomfort.”</p><p>“C-Call R-Ric,” Hilda panted as Stefan went to contact the nurses. “Need… n-need him to k-know…”</p><p>“Already texted him, he’s having a secondary interview to discuss the terms of the job,” announced Caroline. "But he will be on the first plane back.”</p><p>The nurses came into the room to start preparing her (after being compelled to ignore the things that medicine could not explain), which made Hilda start to cry. “M-My sisters,” she whimpered as they started to move the bed. “My sisters— I want my sisters!”</p><p>“I’ll call them, I promise,” said Caroline as they took her down the hall. Caroline walked quickly to keep up with them, taking Hilda’s phone and dialing the numbers of her siblings.</p><p>Hilda was in too much pain to be able to overhear any conversation, but from what it sounded like, none were taking place. Freya wasn’t answering. Klaus’s call had gone straight to voicemail. Elijah’s phone continued to ring. Even Hayley seemed unavailable.</p><p>“Something is w-wrong,” said Hilda shakily as they took her in the operating room and prepared to put her to sleep for the C-section. “S-Someone is h-hurting them…”  </p><p>Caroline took her arm and squeezed it. “Hey, just breathe. We’ll make sure to get in contact with them. Right now, relax, close your eyes, when you wake up, you’ll feel much better and you’ll be seeing two beautiful little girls.”</p><p>But this wasn’t true.</p><p>Hilda’s eyes had opened, and she was indeed back in her room, feeling slightly better, but she looked down and saw her belly just as it had been before. She could still feel that the twins were drinking up as much magic as they could.</p><p>“What happened?” she asked frantically when she saw Stefan, Caroline, and Valerie sit up at the sight of her awake. “Was I dreaming?”</p><p>“No, you weren’t,” said Valerie. “The doctors were unable to operate. The scalpels flew all over the place. The babies don’t want to be born, they want to stay where they can feed off of you. Is was like what that Parker boy told you when the Gemini Coven first put them into you. You’re a permanent battery.”</p><p>“Is there <em>any</em> good news?” she said, feeling herself growing overwhelmed.</p><p>“Unfortunately no,” sighed Stefan. “Nora, Mary Louise, and Bonnie found Rayna Cruz, and I think we now have a problem on our hands. And we still haven’t been able to contact your siblings.”</p><p>Hilda started to cry, and she brought her hands to cover her face. “T-This shouldn’t be h-happening!” she whimpered. “K-Kol should be here… and F-Freya… and R-Rebekah… but K-Kol’s dead and R-Rebekah’s d-daggered and c-cursed and F-Freya could be h-hurt—“</p><p>“Hey.” Caroline caught her hand and caressed it reassuringly. “I know I can’t take the place of your sisters and I know we can’t fill the shoes of any of your siblings, but you are not alone. We are here with you every step of the way. There’s only a few more hours until Alaric gets here, and we’re going to figure this out.”</p><p>“My family is coming to help,” said Valerie, sitting on the bed beside her. “Nora, Mary Louise, and Beau are on their way to help perform a spell that’ll create a greater magical energy out here than what’s inside of you. It won’t be an easy task, but if we channel Stefan and Caroline and have Bonnie aid us, the babies won’t resist to being born, and we’ll be able to ensure they’re born today.”</p><p>“Alright,” whispered Hilda. “Let’s do it.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0054"><h2>54. Chapter 54</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>She awoke to the sound of crying.</strong>
</p><p>Long ago, when Henrik had been born, Hilda and Kol had awaited at their mother’s bedside, assisting the midwife who was going to bring their brother into the world.</p><p>The first thing they had heard when the cord was cut was the sound of a wail. Kol had made a face and covered his ears— his six year old self had no desire to be annoyed by yet another child’s crying.</p><p>Hilda had been in awe. Henrik had been cleaned up and wrapped in a cloth and handed to Esther. Mikael was allowed in, and he’d entered the tent to find Hilda leaning over her mother’s shoulder, her eyes sparkling at the sight of her baby brother.</p><p>
  <em>“Mama,” she had squeaked in a small voice. “Give him an ‘H’ name!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Esther cast her a smile. “What about Henrik?” She and Mikael had already decided on this on a previous day, having thought to name the child Astrid if it was a girl, and Henrik if it was a boy.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda giggled. “Little Henrik.” She leaned over and pressed a soft kiss on his head. "So small..."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You were once this small, too," said Esther as Kol tiptoed back once Henrik had ceased crying. "The both of you were smaller than this, as you were sharing space."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Smaller than that?" gasped Kol. "But he's like Hilda and Rebekah's dolls!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Esther laughed lightly. "Yes, he sort of is."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The other Mikaelsons had been allowed in once Esther had felt up for it, and they had crowded around their mother at the sight of their smallest sibling. Mikael picked Rebekah up to get a better look, and Finn hoisted Kol up so he could be beside him and Elijah, observing Hilda, who had yet to leave her mother's side.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"He's so tiny, Mother," observed Klaus, leaning over and putting his hand tentatively against Henrik's head. "And fragile."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Most creatures are like that when they are born," said Esther, moving so that Elijah could take a turn holding Henrik. They all seemed in awe of the small bundle. "They come into the world innocent and pure, small and unprepared. Though many animals already know what they must do, we take a bit longer to gather our bearings. Henrik will need all of you to guide them. He won't become a big brother, but he will have four fine brothers and two doting sisters that will watch over him, yes?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The siblings nodded. "Yes, Mother." </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Out of the tent, now," commanded Mikael, seeing Henrik needed to be fed. "To bed."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Squealing, Rebekah had been handed off to Finn, who led the way for them to return to where they slept. Hilda had not wanted to go, resting her head on her fist and looking over Henrik's face.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Hilly, come on," said Klaus, already dragging Kol with him to follow obediently behind Finn and Elijah.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Just a bit longer," she said, looking up at Mikael with big eyes. "Please, Papa?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mikael sighed. "Hilda, your mother needs her rest, as does your brother. You can still see him tomorrow, and every day from now on."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Esther smiled and urged her to listen. "I am tired, Hilda. Listen to your father. Please."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda pouted, but got up, and Mikael urged her to leave behind her siblings, though she looked back and smiled before running off. </em>
</p><p>Now, she was the one who lay, exhausted, in the bed, while the two little creatures that’d been in her womb cried and cried for some attention.</p><p>“Hey.”</p><p>She sat up and saw that Alaric was here now, and the two crying babies were cleaned and put into cute hospital onesies and hats, with a blanket to match.</p><p>“Oh, sweet heaven,” she breathed, covering her mouth as he grinned and wheeled over the little bed they were in. “They’re so small… smaller than Hope was…”</p><p>“Well, they are twins, and they did arrive early.” He picked up one of them, rocking her gently. She stopped crying almost immediately, and transitioned into whimpering. “This one… is Josette,” he said, placing her into Hilda’s arms. “We can call her Josie.”</p><p>Hilda started to cry, and she looked down at the tiny face that barely peeked out from the blankets. Her eyes were not open, but she was moving her lips and scrunching up her nose, cooing and wiggling ever so slightly as Hilda rocked her gently. “Hello,” she whispered, reaching a hand to gently caress her head. “Hello… little one… you were the calm one. I can hear your heart…”</p><p>Alaric was holding the other little girl, who was still whining and wouldn’t stop crying. Hilda scooted over to the edge and stood carefully, going to place Josette back in her teeny bed before she took the baby from Alaric. Almost immediately, the little girl stopped crying, and cracked open her eyes, revealing blue orbs almost exactly like Alaric’s. </p><p>“I think I have the perfect name for you,” said Hilda quietly, lifting the hat to see that the little girl had a few blonde locks on her head. “Elizabeth.”</p><p>“Elizabeth?” asked Alaric as he picked Josette up. She opened her eyes, revealing that they were brown to contrast her sister.</p><p>“Caroline has helped us so much in this process,” said Hilda, rocking the baby and lulling her to sleep. “That Christmas day when I felt overwhelmed… we went to her mother’s grave… and it helped me really focus on the idea of being a good mom for these girls, just as Caroline’s mom was for her. I think it would be fitting.”</p><p>He grinned, watching as she sat back down on the bed. He sat beside her, and the two shared a look, though they quickly faced away and focused on the two little girls in front of them. “Josie and Lizzie Saltzman,” whispered Alaric. “Or… do you want it to be Mikaelson-Saltzman?”</p><p>She scrunched up her nose playfully. “That’s a mouthful, so no. Saltzman is good. I worry that they will be in danger if they’re labeled as Mikaelsons.” She looked at their innocent faces and felt more tears slip down her cheek. “I want them to be safe. Though… though they may be part of my family now, it isn’t wise.” She sniffled and looked back up. “Did you er… did you get the job, then?”</p><p>He nodded. “Yeah, I did. I also found this house… I think you’ll really like it. I know you said you don’t like really big houses, so it’s a three bedroom, two bathroom, with a nice backyard and a similar style to the Compound in New Orleans, just with more modern aspects on the inside. It won’t be ready for a few weeks, though, and I was thinking… well, we could stay in New Orleans until then.”</p><p>Hilda’s eyes went wide. “Are… are you sure that’s what you want? Mystic Falls is dangerous but so is New Orleans, and—”</p><p>“Hilda, you’ve been away from your family long enough. A few weeks in your city won’t hurt them. They won’t be sucking up your magic anymore, and you and I can both fight to protect them.”</p><p>The Original’s eyes simply wouldn’t stop watering. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I’d really like that. Just… I worry that—”</p><p>“They’re okay, Hilda,” he assured her. “I managed to contact them. They had a problem with Aurora earlier but things are alright now, and I admit, I had already talked to them about us staying there. Klaus said they’ll prepare Kol’s room for me to stay in so that we can both be on duty with the twins.”</p><p>She beamed at him and leaned onto his shoulder, watching the little girls drifting into a peaceful sleep. “Should we invite Caroline and the others in to see them?”</p><p>He hesitated to answer. “She’s… not here right now. None of them are. Something happened.”</p><p>She went pale as he continued, “I arrived just as they were getting ready to pull the babies out. The Heretics barely managed to finish the spell. Beau… one of them… he’s dead. Rayna Cruz got to him. Nora and Mary Louise ran for it, and Stefan… he got marked with the sword.”</p><p>Hilda gasped, clutching Lizzie tighter into her chest as if to shield her from a threat that wasn’t anywhere near them. “Oh no…”</p><p>“Caroline and him ran for it. Valerie has helped to cloak them and she’s going to try to find Nora and Mary Louise so that they can stick together. I don’t know where they’re all going but they have to get as far away as possible. They lured her out because, well…”</p><p>Hilda knew exactly why. She was there, vulnerable, and if she had been stabbed with the Phoenix Sword, her torment would have been worse than anyone else’s, because of all the terrible things she had done in the past one thousand years.</p><p>“I really do hope they’re alright,” she mumbled, standing up slowly to go set Lizzie into her tiny bed. Alaric followed suit with Josie. “Are you alright, though?” he asked. “Do you need anything?”</p><p>She bit her lip. “A… a little bit of blood might be nice to replenish myself. But you don’t—”</p><p>He had already moved his shirt to the side to let her feed. She felt her cheeks heat up, and she quickly checked that no nurses or doctors were around before tiptoeing to bite into his neck, one arm moving to hold the other side of his neck. He groaned as he always did, holding her hips to support her so she wouldn’t fall.</p><p>The hunger that she was feeling was nothing compared to what it had been while she was pregnant, but all the same, his blood tasted heavenly, and she wanted more. She moved her free hand to the back of his head, and speeding forward, she pressed him into the nearest wall, making him gasp and tighten his grip on her as she pressed her body into his. She wanted more, she wanted him.</p><p>He was tempted. He arched his neck back as she continued to feed, listening to the quiet moans she was letting out. One of his hands subconsciously trailed down her backside, squeezing her bottom and making her move her hand down his shoulder and side, gripping at his belt needily. All that pent up tension was coming out right now, and they both started to pant, grinding onto each other and imagining what they could do now that Hilda was no longer pregnant. She stopped feeding on him as he started to lift up her shirt, and she moved her hand to his front, when— </p><p>“Well,” came a voice that made them spring apart. Hilda was ready to compel someone, but it was just Damon, who looked just as exhausted as she did, though there was a devilish smirk as he walked in and shut the door, gesturing toward the handle. “You two need to learn to lock the door and first and foremost— not do things when children are present.”</p><p>“We’re not doing anything,” said Hilda, wiping her mouth and biting into her wrist. Alaric took it and drank only a bit before letting go of her, the two suddenly too shy to look at each other. </p><p>Damon winked playfully at them, making a kissy face before going over to the twins. “Wow, Ric, you’re lucky that they don’t look like you. I’d feel terrible for them.”</p><p>“Hilarious,” said Alaric, though there was a small smirk on his face. He became serious immediately after. “How are you? With the whole…”</p><p>“Yeah, I know, it’s my fault that Rayna Cruz got the damn sword,” muttered Damon, sitting at the foot of the hospital bed to look at the twins. “And now Stefan and Care Bear have to run for it while the Heretics skip off to the other end of the world. But hey, at least I didn’t kill Elena. I only <em>thought</em> I did.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” mumbled Hilda dejectedly. “Look, if I can help in any way, just—”</p><p>“No, no, Hilly Billy, you’ve got to play house with Ric,” he said, waving his hands and making a gesture that made both Hilda and Alaric blush again. “We’ll survive over here by ourselves. We survived before you came, and we’ll survive after the fact.”</p><p>She made a face. “You do realize I was born in Mystic Falls, right, so I was here before any of you?”</p><p>“Who cares?” said Damon a bit loudly, making a face as one of the twins started to cry. “Oh… oops... I didn't mean to..."</p><p>“Lizzie,” sighed Alaric, taking her and trying to rock her. She wailed and moved her arms around, as though she didn't want to be held by him. Suspecting what she needed, he passed her to Hilda. Within a few moments of pressing her onto her chest to hear and feel her heartbeat, the baby calmed down, and started to breathe softly.</p><p>“Damn, that’s blatant favoritism,” teased Damon as Hilda leaned back into the bed, sighing and resting the little girl against her, rubbing her back affectionately.</p><p>Alaric shrugged. “Well, at least this one likes me. Do you want to hold her?”</p><p>Damon hesitated. “Um… sure.” Alaric picked Josie up as he put his arms in position, and set her in gently. Damon looked down, and there was a softness in his eyes that Hilda had only ever seen when he was talking about Elena.</p><p>“This isn’t so bad,” he mumbled. “Maybe when Elena wakes up… when I take the cure… I can have one of these, too.”</p><p>“Just aim for a boy,” said Alaric, adjusting Josie’s hat. “Three girls are already in the mix.”</p><p>“Are you going to tell your parents?” asked Damon, making Hilda look up.</p><p>Alaric bit his lip. “Honestly… I don’t know. You both know that I don’t really text them unless it’s a holiday.”</p><p>“Is this not a holiday?” asked Damon, scrunching up his nose. “We vampires hardly celebrate our birthdays anymore, but they’re humans, and they’re going to want those little milestones. Plus, they are their granddaughters…”</p><p>Alaric sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I should at least tell them.”</p><p>As the afternoon started to set in, Damon left, offering to go pack their apartment for them. Hilda and Alaric had both tried to say it was alright, but Damon needed to keep his hands busy from how worried he was, and he said it would be ready for them to leave tomorrow, minus the furniture since they didn’t need it.</p><p>“Well, would you look at that,” said Alaric when Damon sent a picture of the apartment, clean and with suitcases all ready. It was nighttime by then, and after smiling and holding the babies all day, Hilda was tired again, and had laid back in the hospital bed. They had changed their diapers for the first time, they had bottle fed them, they had been told by the nurses how to clean them and how to burp them. All the information left the Original wanting to sleep, and it was facilitated because she wasn't so worried about having to get back to the apartment and put everything in boxes, now that Damon had done it.</p><p>“He’s a good man,” she said, laying on her side to leave Alaric some space to sit. </p><p>“Yeah, he is,” he agreed. “At least now he can be your drinking buddy, too.”</p><p>She grinned. “That’s right, I can have alcohol again. Oh, how I’ve missed bourbon…”</p><p>“I’ve missed it, too,” he said. “I haven’t drank it in months since you started feeding on me.”</p><p>“I’m sure Klaus will have a feast ready when we get there tomorrow… oh, look, he’s calling now.”</p><p>She pulled her phone up to accept the Facetime. She saw that Klaus had set his phone up so that Hilda could see all of them next to each other. “Hello, sister,” he said, smirking at her through the phone. “We had a very nice surprise when we received the pictures you sent.”</p><p>“Congratulations, Hilda,” said Hayley, holding Hope up and making her wave. “Hope can’t say this full sentence yet but she’d like to tell you that she’s eager to meet her cousins.”</p><p>Hope cooed, and clapped her hands. “Cousins!”</p><p>Hilda and Alaric both smiled at this. “Thank you,” she sighed, looking at Freya. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“I’m alright, I promise,” she said gently. “We’re just waiting to see you again. I want to meet my nieces. They have beautiful names. Congratulations to you, too, Alaric.”</p><p>“Thank you, Freya,” he said. “And thank you for preparing a place for me to stay there with you. It means a lot.”</p><p>“Nonsense, why wouldn’t we?” said Klaus. “I won’t have my sister living in a car while she waits for a house. Which, remind me, Alaric, why are you waiting? We could easily compel any realtor—”</p><p>“Because he wants to do it the honest way, Nik,” giggled Hilda. “Don’t tell me you’d rather have me go straight to Texas.”</p><p>“What Niklaus meant,” cut in Elijah, “is that we are very pleased to be able to welcome you home at last.”</p><p>She found that she was able to smile even at this. “And the twins will likely be delighted to meet you. Especially Hope.”</p><p>Alaric’s parents had called just before Hilda had drifted off to sleep. </p><p>“What’s this we hear about you becoming a dad?” came an unfamiliar female voice. “Alaric, that’s wonderful!”</p><p>He kept the phone pressed to his ear. “Yeah… Mom… it is.”</p><p>“Congratulations,” came a male voice. “Two little girls, huh? Be ready for tea parties and dress up.”</p><p>“There’s nothing wrong with that, Dad,” said Alaric. “I’ll be happy to do it.”</p><p>“Of course you will be,” said his mother, apparently shoving her husband aside. “So where’s this Hilda girl? Can we talk to her? As soon as you get the house, you have to tell me so that I can meet her. You didn’t let me meet the last girl…”</p><p>“I promise, I’ll explain everything when you come visit, Mom. Right now, I think she’s really tired…” he covered the phone as Hilda tried to say, <em>‘No, I’m not!’ </em></p><p>He shook his head and mouthed, <em>‘You’re supposed to be human!’</em> before continuing, “She had a C-section and it’s just a lot to recover from.”</p><p>“Oh, well tell her to try and clean the scar everyday and to keep taking the prenatal vitamins for a bit longer. No heavy exercise, but no bed rest either unless she’s got cramps.”</p><p>Hilda tried to stifle a giggle as she lifted up the hospital dress to reveal there was no scar, and her tummy as just as it had been before she knew she was pregnant.</p><p>“I’ll tell her, Mom. Thanks for calling. I’ll send some pictures of the twins.”</p><p>“Take care, Alaric,” said his mother before his father chimed in, “And make sure you take care of your girlfriend, too!”</p><p>Alaric blushed as he ended the call. “Sorry.”</p><p>“It’s alright,” she said, tucking her hand under her head. He came to lay beside her, turning on his side as well to face her. </p><p>“I was thinking,” Hilda added, “I’ll cancel my classes at Whitmore just since we’re not coming back. For now, I think it’s better that I stay with them. They’re going to need a lot of attention and I know you won’t want to quit your job even if we use my family’s money for everything…”</p><p>But he didn’t answer. He was staring at her and he was beaming. He reached his hand forward and brushed some hair out of her face before bringing his knuckles to run down her cheek. “How can I ever thank you enough?”</p><p>“You don’t need to thank me,” she said out of instinct. </p><p>“Yes, I do. You just spent four months feeling sick all the time while doing college so that you could be ready to give birth to daughters that you were surprised with. Your entire life got turned upside down and you stuck through it and you gave me the greatest gift I could have asked for.” He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. “Thank you for everything.”</p><p>She put her hand against his cheek as his lips lingered over her skin. She wanted more than anything to tilt his face down and hers upward to kiss him at long last, but she knew it was too soon, that it wouldn’t be right. Jo hadn’t even been dead a year and both felt too guilty to pursue each other. Hilda couldn’t bring himself to do what she wanted, not at this moment. Not yet.</p><p>He simply moved so that his head rested on top of hers, letting her burying her face in his chest. She gripped at his shirt instead, sighing quietly as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her protectively.</p><p>And this embrace was closer than those in the past, because her belly was no longer in the way.</p><p>“Do you think everything will be okay?" she said softly.</p><p>"I think it will be," he said as confidently as he could. </p><p>There was silence, and they stopped to listen to the twins' breathing, and each other's.</p><p>“Alaric,” she whispered, just before she heard him fall asleep.</p><p>“Mmm?” </p><p>“This makes me want to be human again.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0055"><h2>55. Chapter 55</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Bonnie and Damon saw them off the next morning.</strong>
</p><p>“Have a safe drive,” said the Bennett witch, offering them a smile as she waved. </p><p>“Don’t get into trouble the instant we leave,” advised Alaric as Hilda finished bucking up the twins’ new double car seat in the middle of the back row, adjusting all the straps well. She cast a grateful look toward the pair that remained on the sidewalk. “Thank you for everything.”</p><p>“No problem, Hilly Billy, just remember, no getting frisky on the road,” said Damon, which made her roll her eyes and climb into the front seat.</p><p>The ride was basically twice as long as it normally would have been.</p><p>Hilda could have ridden in the backseat, but Alaric insisted that he didn’t mind stopping every hour for the twins to be given what they needed. He said she ought to be comfortable in front and not crammed in the back.</p><p>Thus, every hour, they stopped for over fifteen minutes to make sure the twins were properly fed, burped, changed, and entertained, which gave them a chance to stretch their legs for a bit.</p><p>They were still several hours away when Freya called. “Wait at least two hours before you continue to make your way home,” she said sternly.</p><p>“Why?” demanded Hilda. “What happened?”</p><p>“Well, for starters, Stefan Salvatore and Caroline Forbes popped in while on the run from Rayna Cruz. They managed to kill her with Klaus’s help, but what joy— she <em>regenerates</em>. We’ve got a problem to deal with and I’d rather you not be anywhere nearby. Hope is with Mary right now… I think things are going to get ugly.”</p><p>She narrowed her eyes. “Hayley, what aren’t you telling me?”</p><p>He hesitated, then said, “Aya is attempting to unlink the sirelines. Klaus and Elijah are trapped in a Chambre de Chasse as we speak.”</p><p>Hilda swore loudly, and the twins started to cry. “Damn it,” she said as Alaric pulled over. She balanced the phone on her shoulder as they got out of the car and each took a twin, rocking them in their arms. “That’s what Davina didn’t want to tell me. Let me guess, they’re doing it to try to kill Nik?”</p><p>“And to protect themselves. They will not need to protect Elijah if they are no longer linked to him. Please, sister, don’t try to come and pitch in. Go and do something entertaining for a few hours then make your way here. I assume all will be well by nightfall. We are attempting to come up with a solution— I believe I have a spell that will help. I beg of you, don’t be stubborn. Listen, and stay away.”</p><p>Hilda sighed. “Alright, Freya. But only because you asked. Please… be careful. Don’t let either of them get killed.”</p><p>“Don’t worry, I will keep them safe.”</p><p>Hilda was nervous when they got off of the highway and stopped in a nearby town to see what they could do. “Maybe we could shop for a stroller,” suggested Alaric. </p><p>“Yeah, we could,” she said, bringing her knees up to her chest.</p><p>“And we could get something to eat, we’ve just been snacking on stuff.”</p><p>“That might be a good idea.”</p><p>“And then we could put the new stroller to good use and walk around the park and talk so that you can keep your mind off of your siblings.”</p><p>She sighed and covered her face. “I’m sorry. I just… this is really bad. If that spell goes wrong, my brothers will be dead before I get to see them and I feel so useless not being able to help. The Strix could kill Hayley and Freya for trying to save them and Davina… they won’t really help her resurrect Kol unless this spell goes off without a hitch.”</p><p>He took one of her hands, the other resting on the steering wheel to take them down a new road to a nearby shopping center. “It’s going to be okay. They’re going to figure it out. And you’re not useless. You’re doing what they asked you to do, and that’s something. Besides, they want to keep you safe. When we get there, they’ll be waiting with big smiles on their faces, I guarantee it.”</p><p>They took their time finding the right stroller, pulling the twins along in their carrier. They were stopped several times by those who were excited to see the babies, but it made Hilda more and more irritated, especially with the comments they’d make.</p><p>“When will people learn that it’s not nice to point things out about other’s bodies?” sneered Hilda as they placed the twins in the stroller to test it out. “Did you hear that woman— <em>‘You had a C-Section and you flattened up again? Most women remain bloated for months.’</em> So what, who cares? Maybe it wasn’t insulting to me but it irks me that they make comments to those women who don’t have vampiric healing and can't just go back to normal after giving birth to a baby! Why do they feel the need to make comments about how they look post giving birth? It’s ridiculous.”</p><p>Alaric just nodded along. “Well, that’s an important lesson to teach the girls when they’re old enough.”</p><p>“Yes, yes it is. I don’t get why people care what someone else does with their body. Let them express themselves and be happy with who they are without nitpicking things that might be their greatest insecurity. Ugh.” She shook her head and started to push the stroller. “I apologize again— I’m bloody furious.”</p><p>“It’s alright, you’re understandably mad,” he said with a shrug. “I can’t wait til the girls start wanting to make dramatic changes to their appearances. As long as it’s nothing permanent, it’ll be fun to see what they want to dress up as. Maybe they’ll adopt a British accent for a few years.”</p><p>“Why would they do that?” said Hilda quizzically.</p><p>“Well, I don’t know if you realized, but I have an American accent and yours is British/Australian. They’ll probably have a more Americanized speaking voice because of school, but they’ll learn pretty well how to do a British accent, and they will probably mimic you.”</p><p>This certainly got her mind off of stupid people. “Maybe Lizzie will want to be British and Josie will want to be American. They’ll fool everyone into thinking they aren’t twins when they are.”</p><p>They stopped at a diner to get some food, keeping the twins in their stroller and letting them sleep soundly beside them. They tried to take their time eating, but Hilda couldn’t help but nervously zoom through her dish, so she kept asking for more helpings, which no one questioned this time, especially once they saw the two little girls napping.</p><p>“They probably think I’m a glutton,” she moaned, covering her face in shame as she had another bowl of ice cream. “But I’m stressed and angry and worried and I can’t feed at the moment and the food here is better than I expected it to be…”</p><p>“There’s nothing wrong with having more food, you’re not putting it to waste and it’s not like you’re taking that food away from anyone else so that you can indulge in it yourself.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled, but immediately flinched and dipped down to pick Josie up just milliseconds before she let out a whimper. She brought the little girl to rest against her chest before she could start crying, and rubbed her back. “Shh,” she said, bouncing her lightly. “Go back to sleep…”</p><p>Alaric was staring at her in awe. “How did you—?”</p><p>“I heard a change in her heartbeat,” she said with a light blush. “She must have been startled with some of the noises here. Once she felt Josie had been lulled back into a deep enough sleep, she set her down. “There you go, princess, you’re all good now.”</p><p>When Hilda decided she really needed to stop eating, they went for a stroll around the block of shops and into a park not far from where they had been. The grass was unfortunately quite dead, but there was a nice breeze that made Hilda feel at least a bit better about everything.</p><p>“I was thinking we should talk about middle names,” said Alaric. He was now pushing the stroller, and the twins were looking up in awe. “For Josette, I thought it would be right to have her middle name be Olivia, after her mother’s sister. Josette Olivia Saltzman has a nice ring to it.”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “Yes, it does. What were you thinking of for Lizzie?”</p><p>“I thought I’d leave that up to you. Maybe name her after someone in your family, someone you want to commemorate.”</p><p>She looked down at the little girl and reached for two of the new pacifiers, placing one gently in Lizzie’s mouth, then one in Josie’s, to help them have something to do other than stare upwards. “Well, the only person I could think I could think to name her after would be Henrik. Had he been a girl, my parents would have name him Astrid. What do you think sounds better— Elizabeth Henrietta Saltzman or Elizabeth Astrid Saltzman?”</p><p>“Elizabeth Astrid Saltzman,” he said firmly. “I like it.”</p><p>After three hours, they decided it was finally time to start heading to New Orleans again. They placed the twins into their car seat, and Hilda climbed in the back with them after moving the front seat forward and down so that she could rest her legs on it. This helped them not have to make so many stops, since it was already getting late and they needed to rest— especially Alaric since he’d been driving so much.</p><p>The Compound was deathly quiet when they walked in. Hilda gave a gulp and lifted the carrier with the twins a bit higher as she went up the stairs toward her room, pulling a suitcase behind her. Alaric followed behind with one of the other suitcases. The Original could sense that no one was in the house at that moment, and it made her feel incredibly uncomfortable. She pushed open the door to her room and saw it had been cleaned earlier. A note on her dresser let her know that Kol’s room had been cleaned as well, for Alaric to use. Hilda set the twins down carefully on her bed, dropping her suitcase. She went to peek into Kol’s room and leaned into the doorway when she turned on the light, seeing it had indeed been freshened up. </p><p>“You can put your suitcase in there,” said Hilda to Alaric before walking back into her room and unzipping her bag, beginning to put things away. “We can get everything else tomorrow.”</p><p>“I’m sure they’re alright,” he said, trying to reassure her. “They’re probably just delayed…”</p><p>She wrung her hands together. “Yes, probably…”</p><p>But she perked up at the sound of movement. She paused, first, to make sure it wasn’t just some stranger walking in. But sure enough, she heard Freya’s voice.</p><p>“I think she’s here already,” she heard Freya say. “Let’s go upstairs, they might be getting settled in.”</p><p>A smile grew on Hilda’s face. “It’s them.” She closed her suitcase again and lifted the carrier with the twins, holding it against her hip as she walked out toward the balcony as her siblings, Hayley, and Hope began to climb the stairs.</p><p>When Freya saw her, she immediately broke into a run. Hilda handed the twins off to Alaric and sped to meet her sister, pulling her into a tight hug. “Oh, it’s so good to see you,” she whispered as Freya rubbed her back.</p><p>“It’s even better to see you,” said Freya, moving back and covering her mouth in awe as she approached the babies. “Oh my goodness… they’re so beautiful! I never got to see Hope when she was this small… oh…”</p><p>Hilda turned as her brothers and Hayley, carrying Hope, arrived. She jumped into Klaus’s arms first, kissing his cheek. Forgetting all her previous anger with Elijah, she hugged him next, leaning her head into his chest. “How did it go?” she asked a bit nervously. “What happened?”</p><p>“I remain linked to my sireline,” said Elijah as Hilda hugged Hayley next, and kissed Hope’s forehead. “Niklaus, however…”</p><p>“I’m going to kill Davina,” he said irritably, looking a bit pale. “She went on with it…”</p><p>“Nik, can you refrain from the killing talk for a bit?” said Hilda as she moved to where Freya had led Alaric into the study. “I’d very much like for you to get to meet the twins with a more upbeat attitude.”</p><p>Klaus sighed dejectedly, but closed his mouth. Alaric set the carrier on one of the desks, and Hayley was the first to move closer to them, bringing Hope over and leaning her down. “Those are your cousins,” she whispered as the toddler looked at them with wide eyes. “Lizzie and Josie.”</p><p>“Cousins,” repeated Hope, reaching a hand in. Hayley pulled it back. “Not yet, Hope, they’re still really little. We’ll wait for Aunt Hilda to tell you when you can start trying to touch them, okay? Right now, they’re sleeping.”</p><p>“Would you like to hold them, Freya?” offered Alaric, moving over to unbuckle the twins from the carrier.</p><p>“Oh, can I?” she said dreamily.</p><p>“Of course you can,” said Hilda. She picked up Josie first and placed her in her arms. “This one is Josie.” She then took Lizzie. “Here, Nik…”</p><p>Klaus stepped forward and took the little girl in his arm, smiling down. “This one has a glint of trouble in her eyes.”</p><p>“And this one looks so remarkably sweet,” sighed Freya, rocking the baby gently. “They’re both so perfect… you are quite lucky.”</p><p>“Thank you,” said Alaric. He seemed like he wanted to ask Elijah if he wanted to hold one of the twins next, but he knew it would be better for Hilda to offer it to him.</p><p>“I don’t ever want to let her go,” sighed Klaus as he looked at Lizzie, with Hayley and Hope looking over his shoulder. “I remember when Hope was this small… when we had to send her away so that she would be safe…” </p><p>“Cousin,” whined Hope, reaching past Hayley and trying to hold the baby. “Jo, Liz.”</p><p>“This one’s Lizzie,” said Hayley. Hilda came over and took Hope’s hand, guiding it so that she could gently touch Lizzie’s shoulder. “You were once this small, just as your father has said.”</p><p>Hope was absolutely delighted to get to make contact. She giggled and patted her shoulder before bringing her hand back to clap them together. “Happy cousin, sleeping.”</p><p>“Yes, she is sleeping.” Hilda took Lizzie back as Klaus gestured toward her. She turned to Elijah, who had been standing back a bit. “Elijah?”</p><p>He looked honored to have been asked. He took Lizzie and sighed. “I remember when you and Kol were this little.” He leaned onto his sister and cast her a smile. “Congratulations, Hilda. They’re wonderful.”</p><p>No one wanted to go to sleep, despite the fact everyone seemed exhausted. They all wanted to hold the babies and talk about them even though they were only sleeping or making faces. Hope was walking around and bringing them random objects from the study as though she was gifting them things to have for their own. Every question was answered and they continued to chat until Hope fell asleep in Hayley’s lap. They bade each other goodnight and went off to their separate rooms.</p><p>“We can give them their first bath tomorrow,” said Hilda as she and Alaric set up Kol’s bed for the twins, stacking pillows around so that they would be comfortable. They could have used a cradle, but this gave them more room, and they were very safe. </p><p>Alaric and Hilda moved their suitcases out of the way and left the adjoining door open as they climbed into Hilda’s bed, a bit further apart from each other than usual. Both seemed to subconsciously feel as though they one, needed to get used to staying on their respective side in case they put the twins between them, and two, needed to keep their distance for a bit to not succumb to temptation.</p><p>It had only been about two hours into their sleep when Hilda woke up abruptly, hearing that the twins’ heartbeats had changed. She sped to where they were and picked them both up very carefully, rocking them just before they could cry. “Shh,” she said tiredly, sitting on the bed and leaning back into the pillows so that they wouldn’t fall. “It’s okay, don’t worry. Let’s get you your bottle, okay?” She moved to the dresser, where they had set down the wipes, diapers, formula, and bottles for them. She was just wondering which twin she ought to put down first to make the bottle for the other one when she sensed movement, and Alaric seemed to appear at her side.</p><p>“I thought I’d be able to do it on my own to let you sleep,” she said sheepishly as he started to make the bottles.</p><p>“I don’t mind waking up,” he said, blinking a few times as he started to mix the formula. “If you’re going to be tending to them, so am I. You may be able to get to them faster but I’m not going to let you do this on your own.”</p><p>She blushed, and was glad he couldn’t see it with the minimal light in the room. “I just felt bad. You’re more tired than me.”</p><p>“We’re in this together, aren’t we? Jo used to say that it’s better for babies when both parents take care of them together as often as possible. Keeps the family healthy. Here— bottle one.” He pushed it toward her and took Lizzie from her, laying her down for her bottle as she sniffled.</p><p>“I wish she was here,” murmured Hilda as she pressed the bottle against Josie’s lips. “She knows more about the medical aspects of babies… I’ve read all these things but at the end of the day, I won’t have any idea what to do if they fall ill. I’ll want to give them my blood or something…”</p><p>“What she would have advised,” he whispered, watching Lizzie drink, “is that we get in contact with a pediatrician wherever we go and prepare a plan for what to do if we notice something is wrong with them. We can look for doctors tomorrow in case they come down with something in these few weeks that we stay.”</p><p>Hilda nodded, and looked down at Josie, feeling herself starting to tear up. “I’m sorry, little one,” she sniffled, trying to swallow back the tears. “I know I’m not the mother you expected, I know that there are a lot of things I won’t be able to do right… I don’t want to replace your mother. Instead, I will raise you to be just as incredible as she was, and I will try to be the best surrogate mother possible. I promise.”</p><p>Alaric cast her a sad look as she shook her head. “What will they call me?” she whispered. “When they can talk? I-It’ll feel wrong for them to call me any variation of ‘Mother.’ I’m not their mother…”</p><p>“Biologically, no,” he replied softly. “Via surrogacy… yes. You’re going to help raise them. You may not share any genes with them but you are going to be the maternal figure in their life. I think Jo would have wanted for them to call <em>someone</em>‘Mom.’ Kids need that kind of thing in their lives, and I doubt they’ll think to call you ‘Hilda’ or ‘Aunt Hilda.’ Eventually, we will tell them the truth, and they can decide from there. But it’s not wrong if they call you ‘Mom,’ you know. Jo wouldn’t have wanted you to feel like they’re not your daughters. You carried them for nine months. You gave birth to them. You’ve been so gentle and understanding and just… patient in a way I hadn’t seen before. No one could ever replace Jo and I know that’s not your intention, so don’t think it wrong if you want to refer to them as your daughters. It’s not as though you’re forgetting her, or dishonoring her.”</p><p>“It feels like I am, Ric,” she said, setting Josie’s bottle down as she finished it. She moved her onto her side and patted her back gently to burp her. “I carried them, yes, I forged an attachment to them, yes, my siblings have welcomed them as Mikaelsons and I want to help them grow up but… it should be her, not me. She shouldn't have died. I just… I don’t know. This feels so wrong.”</p><p>“But… why?” he prompted. “Hilda, please, you can be honest with me.”</p><p>She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Look… the entire time that you and her were together, I wished… I wished that I was her. I wished that things between us didn’t have to be so complicated. I regretted letting you go but she was so wonderful and I hated myself— I still hate myself— for having been jealous. The day you told me about the pregnancy and the engagement… I felt so lost. And it was worse because I knew I shouldn’t have been feeling that way. I shouldn’t have butted in— I should have pulled back, I shouldn’t have shown my face at the wedding. Kai was right, I’m nothing but a homewrecker. Here I am, holding her daughters, and she’s somewhere in Heaven or whatever is out there… I’m beside you, thinking things that I shouldn't… this just so much. I still feel so bad and I know I shouldn’t but I do. I fancy you, Alaric, I do, and I never stopped fancying you even when you got together with her. This isn’t fair to her. I should have died instead of her. This… us… it’s just dishonoring her.”</p><p>“I felt jealous when I saw you with Tristan,” he mumbled back when she turned away to set Josie down. “And I was still mourning Jo. I’m pretty sure that’s <em>worse</em>. I liked you the entire time I was with her and I know… I know that she was aware of it. She knew I would never get over you. I loved her so, so much, but a part of me still felt things for you. Even now… I feel and think things that I shouldn’t, either. I want to say that she would have preferred it be you rather than anyone else. She would… she would say something along the lines of you making me happy because I deserve happiness. But it doesn’t feel like I do. I have strong, strong feelings for you, Hilda, and I want to kiss you, I want to hold you, I want to love you and make love to you and raise these twins with you and make this a perfect family.”</p><p>“But we shouldn’t,” she concluded, refraining from looking at him as he put Lizzie beside Josie. “We both feel like we’re betraying her. Me, because I’ve inserted myself in a place where she should be, and you….”</p><p>“...because I never once lost feelings for you even when I was with her,” he finished. He sighed and placed his hand against the pillows. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Hilda, I don’t want to hurt you, I don’t want to hurt these twins, and I don’t want to hurt Jo, even if she’s not here right now. I’ve made this complicated. I shouldn’t have jumped in with her before I got over you. I knew I was entering a relationship while my heart belonged to someone else and I went through with it, I basically cheated on her. This is my fault. Please, you shouldn’t feel guilty. You broke things off to protect me, you encouraged me to find someone new because you wanted me to be happy, and I was the idiot who didn’t think to be honest with the woman I tried to start a family with. Jo would never blame you, and neither do I. The one at fault here is me.”</p><p>Hilda sighed. “Ric, no…”</p><p>“Yes, it’s my fault. I’m the one who made things complicated. I don’t want you beating yourself up over it. You weren’t the one who cheated on your partner with me. You came to the wedding at my insistence because I wanted your support. When you were with Tristan, you thought only of him— that’s how I should have been with Jo. I did wrong by her and I will forever regret it. But please, understand that this complication is because of me and not because of you. You’ve done a fantastic job with the twins and I know Jo would want you to be comfortable being their mother. It’s me who should be ashamed. They deserve a better father.” He shook his head. “Listen… I think I should sleep in this room now.”</p><p>She nodded weakly and looked at her feet. As much as she wanted him to keep sleeping beside her to help put her at ease, she knew it was not right. “I’ll go get the cradle.” She sped off to retrieve it and came back with it in tow, cleaning it quickly and setting it against the wall before placing blankets and pillows inside of it and setting the twins into it. Alaric climbed into Kol’s bed and cast her a sad look. “Goodnight, Hilda.”</p><p>“Goodnight, Alaric,” she whispered back before closing the adjoining door and going to her bed, where she buried her face in her sheets and started to sob.</p><p>
  <em>Comments? I really would like to hear your thoughts on this. Happy 600 pages!</em>
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<a name="section0056"><h2>56. Chapter 56</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>They tried to pretend everything was fine when it wasn’t.</strong>
</p><p>For three days, they acted casually with each other, conversing when they needed to and taking turns to change diapers, give bottles, burp, and talk to the twins. They listened to Klaus rant about his paranoia regarding enemies. They spoke to Elijah, Freya, and Hayley about the most mundane things. They scheduled a very boring playtime everyday with Hope and the twins (this was only boring because the twins could do nothing but coo and cry, meaning they would not react when Hope brought them several of her toys).</p><p>They didn’t speak of what’d happened that night. They slept in separate beds, each feeling hurt and lonely, but not wanting to go to the other, because that would only cause a problem. They got together every night to tend to the twins when they woke up, but in those moments, they didn’t chat unless it had to do with the babies.</p><p>On the third day, Hilda thought she might lose her mind. </p><p>They were in the courtyard after breakfast, and the twins were in their stroller, being rocked by Hilda as Hope trotted around finding rocks and pieces of grass to show the twins. She kept babbling about the colors to try to teach them, but Hilda felt no joy while observing the interaction. She tried to ignore Alaric, who sat beside her, texting Stefan and Caroline and trying to help them find places to hide now that they were no longer in New Orleans.</p><p>“This is orange,” said Hope, taking a small flower and putting it on Josie’s lap, since Lizzie was fast asleep. “Orange, orange.”</p><p>Josie simply gurgled, and Hope ran off, coming back with a pebble. “This rock is grey. But no eat!”</p><p>Josie couldn’t have eaten it even if she tried. She started to make faces, and Hope leaned over to her, smiling. “Silly cousin, makes faces.”</p><p>“She might just be tired,” sighed Hilda with no emotion, making Hope crawl up onto her lap, dropping the pebble to the side. “Are you tired, too?”</p><p>Hope nodded and leaned back, though still watching the twins. “Sleep so much.”</p><p>“They do, because they’re still small,” she explained. “You slept a lot, too, when your Auntie Bex and I were taking care of you.”</p><p>“Auntie Bex,” repeated Hope. “Where?”</p><p>Hilda let out a shaky breath. “She’s not here right now…”</p><p>“Bex visit!” said Hope enthusiastically. “See Liz and Jo.”</p><p>“Yes… I wish she could visit,” mumbled Hilda. “She’d love to meet the twins.”</p><p>She perked up at the sound of footsteps. She saw Davina walk up, and the young witch gasped when she saw them. “Oh,” she said, covering her mouth as she came closer. “K—”</p><p>Klaus seemed to materialize in front of her, keeping her from taking another step toward the twins. “Rather foolish of you to come here alone,” he said menacingly, advancing toward her.</p><p>Hilda was just about to get up and yank him back when another figure burst forward, slamming Klaus back into one of the pillars. “She didn’t come alone, brother,” said Kol, standing right before them in his real body.</p><p>Klaus was in complete shock. Elijah and Freya made their way downstairs, and they each looked incredibly surprised. But none could measure up to the disbelief on Hilda’s face.</p><p>“How is this possible?” she whispered, coming closer and taking her brother’s face in her hands. “How did you…”</p><p>“When I broke Klaus’s sire link, it created a surge of power,” said Davina.</p><p>Freya looked displeased. “You stole the nexus vorti.”</p><p>Davina was obviously surprised that Freya seemed so cold about it. “And I brought your brother back from the dead!”</p><p>Hilda didn’t care. She pulled Kol into a tight hug, letting her head fall into his chest as she held him against her. She sniffled, and he rubbed her back. “Come now, Hilly,” he whispered. “Don’t tell me you’re going to get all emotional on me.”</p><p>She didn’t answer, and simply held on, trying to hold back her tears, but it was very difficult. Every emotion was pouring out. Her sadness because of her situation with Alaric. Her anger that Jo was dead and not able to raise her twins. Her excitement at the prospect of seeing Hope being so kind to them. And most of all, her joy at having her brother back in front of her again.</p><p>“You’re not allowed to die again,” she said, her voice muffled into his shirt. “If you dare… I swear, Kol, I’ll—”</p><p>“I’m not going for a third time, Hilly,” he promised as he pulled away, using the sleeve of his shirt to dry her eyes. “Not when I have two new little nieces to get to know…”</p><p>“Hang on a moment,” said Klaus, first yanking Kol into a hug of his own. “They’re not the only ones who want to greet you.”</p><p>Albeit surprised that Klaus was embracing him, Kol leaned into it, then moved on to Elijah, who was grinning. “You haven’t aged a day.”</p><p>Before going to Freya, Kol gave her a strange look. He clearly recognized her from the Christmas party in 1914. “Freya,” she told him, when he didn’t know who she was.</p><p>“Right,” he said. “Long-lost older sister. Speaking of twists and turns in our family tree, where might Rebekah be? I’m surprised she’s not down here doting on Hilly’s babies.”</p><p>Klaus cast Davina a look. “That’s a long story. And one reserved for family. Davina, you can see yourself out.” Kol frowned, but Klaus kept him from speaking. “As per usual, our family faces a multitude of threats,” continued the hybrid. “The sooner you become acquainted with them, the better. After all, you we have two new additions that need the utmost protection. I won’t have you distracted.”</p><p>“By Davina?” said Kol irritably. “You know, if you could only pull your head out of your—”</p><p>“Kol,” Davina cut in. “It’s okay, I’ll go.”</p><p>“Not before I hug you,” said Hilda, pulling the young girl forward, much to Klaus’s dismay. “Thank you. This is the best welcome home gift anyone could have given me.”</p><p>Davina smiled and patted her arm before facing Kol. “You can make it up to me, you know.”</p><p>“And I will,” promised Kol. “Dust off that fancy dress, ‘cause tonight we’re going dancing.” He dipped down to press a gentle kiss on Davina’s lips once she accepted, which made Hilda beam. Once the young witch was leaving, he clapped his hands together. “Now, then, what about this new pair of Mikaelson twins?”</p><p>Hilda led him to where Alaric had already unbuckled the twins for Kol to hold them. Hilda picked up Lizzie, casting Alaric a grateful look, which he nodded to before picking up Josie. </p><p>“This is Elizabeth,” said Hilda, offering the baby to her brother. “Elizabeth Astrid Saltzman.”</p><p>Kol smiled knowingly. “You named her after Henrik…” He held his arms a bit stiffly, as if worried he’d drop Lizzie. “She may not be our blood but she looks a bit like Freya and Bex. Might just be the eyes, though.” </p><p>Alaric moved forward with Josie as Kol handed Lizzie back. “This is Josette Olivia Saltzman,” he said, letting Kol take her. </p><p>“Ah,” said Kol, seeing the brown eyes. “Nice to see they’re easy to tell apart. This one was named after the mum, I hear?”</p><p>Alaric and Hilda shared a bit of a tense look before nodding. Kol didn’t suspect anything. “They’re both fantastic, Hilly,” he said once the twins were back in the stroller. “Look at you, becoming a mother while I was gone. That’s number one on the list of things I definitely did not expect. It looks good on you, though. You seem happy.” His eyes drifted up to Alaric. “Are you two together yet?”</p><p>Hilda turned red, and cleared her throat loudly. “Let’s get you settled in,” she told him, taking his arm and pulling him to Klaus. “What is it you want him to become acquainted with?”</p><p>Klaus blinked, not expecting to be addressed. He, too, was wondering what Kol had inquired about. “Er— that’s right, we need to speak about an old enemy of mine, who seems to have come now that my sireline has been unlinked.”</p><p>“I’m gonna take the girls for a walk around the block while you all talk,” said Alaric quickly, buckling the girls back in the stroller. </p><p>“Absolutely not,” said Klaus sharply. “Did you not hear what I said? An enemy of mine is in this city. By default, neither you nor my nieces are safe, and you are not to leave this Compound until the threat has been dealt with. Especially not alone. Wait here, Hilda won’t be long.”</p><p>“I’ll stay down here with you,” offered Freya, picking up Hope, who was still moving around trying to collect things for the twins.</p><p>Hilda nodded gratefully and gulped a bit as she followed her brothers upstairs into the study, where several letters had been laid out. “These are part of a collection from my victims,” said Klaus a bit dismissively. “Look at this particular pile— the man’s name is Gaspar Cortez.” He looked more worried now, as Hilda and Kol started to look through the letters. Klaus sped away, and Elijah lingered behind, peering over at Kol. </p><p>“Already at the mercy of Niklaus, and just in time to help the rest of us clean up his mess,” he observed. “Do you miss being dead yet?”</p><p>Hilda and Kol both smirked, and Klaus returned with a goblet of blood. “Keep up your ceaseless whining, Elijah, and I’m sure he will,” said the hybrid, offering the goblet to his younger brother. “Here. I compelled the housekeeper.”</p><p>For the first time ever, Hilda saw that Kol didn’t seem to want blood. “Next time, a blood bag will be fine,” he said as he took the goblet and gave a small sip. “I’m meant to be off the fresh stuff.” He only took another gulp before handing it to Hilda, who downed it appreciatively. </p><p>Klaus was amused by this. “Attempting to be a better man for your girlfriend?”</p><p>Kol looked sour at this. “I’d much rather be with my girlfriend, bonding with my sister and new nieces, but since your enemies have returned seeking vengeance, I suppose they ought to be murdered. Remind me, then, who is this Cortez?”</p><p>“His family decimated Belaga,” replied Klaus.</p><p>Kol and Hilda scrunched their noses up at the same time, making a face at each other before grinning. “Ugh, Belaga,” said Kol. “That place was hideous.”</p><p>“It deserved to be torn down,” added Hilda teasingly.</p><p>Elijah seemed pleased to hear that they agreed with him, and gestured toward the twins. “Thank you. Niklaus disagrees.”</p><p>“No taste,” said Klaus in exasperation. “Any of you.”</p><p>Kol held up his hand. “Alright, calm down. I know exactly how to find your enemies, as long as our new sister doesn't chafe at me for teaching her a quick spell.” He held up the letters. “Mind if I burn these?”</p><p>Klaus raised an eyebrow. “What for?”</p><p>“Locator Spells require possessions of the person you’re trying to find,” said Hilda knowingly. “This spell will be similar, but more complicated, and if these letters are indeed your trophies, they’ll be our basis.” </p><p>Kol nodded and patted Hilda’s shoulder. “I’ll get Freya started. You tend to your daughters.”</p><p>“Are you sure you don’t want me to—?”</p><p>“I can manage, Hilly, I promise,” he said, giving her a side hug. “You’re a mother now, you’ve got to worry about more than spells. I can tell Freya everything she needs to know.”</p><p>Hilda nodded. “Just let me know if you need me.” She sped back down to the courtyard, where Freya was letting Hope pat the twins’s legs to feed her curiosity. “Freya,” said the younger Original, “Kol’s in the upstairs study, he wants to teach you a spell.”</p><p>The woman nodded and set Hope down. Hilda and Alaric looked at each other out of instinct, but quickly gazed away. “I think they need their bottles,” said Hilda, seeing the twins were squirming a bit. “And afterwards, a nap.”</p><p>“Sleepy time for cousins!” said Hope excitedly.</p><p>“You could use a nap, too, you’ve been running around all morning,” said Hilda, scooping her niece up as Alaric took both twins out of the stroller and held them into his chest as he climbed the stairs.</p><p>Hilda first went to Hope’s room, setting her down before returning to find Alaric already making the bottles. Wordlessly, she went to check the twins’ diapers, and gently cleaned their faces before placing them in their crib so they were ready to eat.</p><p>“You should be with your brother,” Alaric told her quietly. “I can manage for a bit.”</p><p>“He thinks I ought to be here with the girls,” she murmured back, holding Lizzie’s bottle while Alaric held Josie’s. “He’s alive, and he’s not dying anytime soon, not now that he’s back in his Original body.”</p><p>“But you heard what Klaus was saying— there is still some white oak out there—”</p><p>“As soon as they’re down for their nap, I’ll go with him, then, and let you have some peace,” she muttered impulsively, now feeling quite irritated.</p><p>He frowned. “I didn’t mean that I wanted you to go. I just think you’d be happier at his side.”</p><p>“Let’s just put the twins to sleep,” she said abruptly, waiting for Lizzie to finish her bottle.</p><p>Alaric paused for a moment. “Are you going to tell him about—?”</p><p>She sighed loudly. “Do you want me to tell him? If you don’t want me to, I won’t.”</p><p>“You can tell him whatever you want.”</p><p>“I’d rather you just be honest with me and tell me whether that’s what you want or not.”</p><p>“Hilda, you have every right to tell him if you want.”</p><p>“I can hear that your heartbeat changed, Alaric, I know you’re lying. You don’t want me to tell him because you think he’ll be angry at you, and because you think he’ll tell Klaus and Elijah.”</p><p>“Okay, fine, I’m scared of your brothers, that was already common knowledge. But no matter what I feel, it’s your choice.”</p><p>“I just won’t tell him the truth, then,” she muttered, taking the bottle from Lizzie as soon as she finished it. The little girl had yet to close her eyes, so she picked her up and took one of the smaller blankets, swaddling her for her nap. </p><p>Alaric did the same with Josie, not facing Hilda, because he could sense that she was annoyed. “Alright, then don’t,” he said. “But you should ask him if he wants this room back. I can move to the one on the other side of your wall if you want.”</p><p>“Kol won’t want that,” she answered immediately.</p><p>“Well, he might—”</p><p>“I know my brother, alright, he’s not going to want to mess up the arrangement we have with the adjoined rooms. He’d rather switch rooms. And either way, I don’t think he wants to stay here now that he’s with Davina, he’ll prefer staying at her place. No one there has vampire hearing.”</p><p>Alaric pursed his lips. “Okay. Sorry.”</p><p>“Don’t apologize,” she whispered as she sat at the edge of the bed. “I should be the one apologizing. I’m in a foul mood.”</p><p>“And that’s likely my fault, so I should be apologizing. I’ve made this a problem, and I’ve made you feel uncomfortable here with me.”</p><p>“I’m not uncomfortable,” she said honestly. “I’m <em>overwhelmed</em>. Guilty. But we really don’t need to talk about it…”</p><p>“If you want to talk about it, then we should talk about it.” He came to sit beside her. “It pains me to know that I hurt you.”</p><p>She looked away. “You didn’t hurt me.”</p><p>“I may not be able to hear your heartbeat, but I know you, Hilda, and you’re lying. I did hurt you. In thinking to respect your choice, I went with someone else despite still feeling something for you. I made you both feel jealous and neglected and just like shit.”</p><p>“I’m the one that insisted that you go for Jo,” she cut in. “I thought getting over you would be easier. I didn’t expect you’d be married within the year. I thought I’d move on by that time and I wouldn’t be a problem. This was all sudden and just a jarring shift on what I was picturing for the future.”</p><p>“I expected things to be different, too,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry for putting you in this position. Please, don’t burden yourself with guilt. This isn’t your fault at all. You’re wonderful. Hilda… please… look at me.”</p><p>She shook her head, tears filling her eyes as she held Lizzie tight to her chest as the little girl started to fall asleep. “I can’t,” she whispered. “If I do, I'll break down, or I’ll kiss you, and neither option is right. I can’t do this, Alaric, I can’t pretend everything is alright when it isn’t. There are too many feelings for us to just be friends who are parenting twins together. And the time isn’t right for us to be together as more than friends. I don’t want this to be awkward but if I look at you, I’ll remember that all my thoughts are <em>wrong</em>. I shouldn’t be desiring you this much.”</p><p>“And I shouldn’t be desiring you as much as I do, either,” he said, getting up to set Josie down. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Hilda.” He tried to get her to look at him while she put Lizzie beside her sister, but she refrained from it. “Look, I can…”</p><p>“Don’t say you can leave,” she said sharply, gripping the railings of the cradle. “We have to be here for the twins, together. And don’t say you can tell my siblings the truth so we don’t have to pretend, because they’ll just be hostile and you’re already making a sacrifice to stay in his city because of me.”</p><p>“What do you want me to do, Hilda?” he said, continuing to face her even though she wasn’t reciprocating the gesture. “You say you can’t pretend everything is alright when it isn’t, and I don’t want to pretend either. But if we don’t do something, we have to keep putting up a facade and that’s not fair to you, you shouldn’t have to keep feigning that you’re okay when you’re not. Your siblings already suspect something, I’m sure of it.”</p><p>She started to sob, and covered her mouth tightly before going to her room. Alaric followed behind. “Hilda, please,” he begged. “Just tell me how I can help you! I can’t stand not knowing that I hurt you and I’m not able to do anything about it.”</p><p>“You can help me by leaving me alone,” she pleaded, trying to go into her bathroom, but he stopped the door.</p><p>“I know better than to leave you suffering by yourself,” he said. “I know you, Hilda, and I know that leaving you alone does no good.”</p><p>She continued to cry, going to the furthest wall from him and leaning into it, pulling her shirt up. “I don’t want to pretend but what else are we supposed to do? I ruin everything I touch when I get into one of my episodes and if I distract myself, I can make sure I don’t get violent near the twins.”</p><p>“I trust you, Hilda, and I know that you won’t hurt them,” he said firmly. “Tell me what you want. Tell me what you need. We’re in this together and I want to help you. If you want to pretend, fine, tell me to my face that that’s what you want, and I will listen. If you want me to do something else, then tell me that, too, and I’ll do it.”</p><p>She whirled around, looking at him, her face blotchy. “I want you!” she hissed. “I want you, I need you, but I can’t <em>have</em>you!”</p><p>She sped forward and seized him by the shirt. “I want you to kiss me, I want you to pin me down and show me what I’ve been missing out on all these years, I want you to whisper dirty things in my ear, I want you to leave me breathless and wanting— no, <em>begging</em> for more, I want you to hold me while I fall asleep and tell me everything’s going to be okay, I want you to do it all again the next day and the day after that, I want you to love me back and make me feel like I’m not the fucked up bipolar psychopath that I’ve been my whole life. Is that enough? Do you get it now?”</p><p>He was quite literally speechless. He gulped, and started to speak, but she wasn’t done. “Do you not hear how bloody <em>insane</em> all of that sounded?” she said, seeing he looked intrigued and not horrified, which to her was shocking. “All these things that I want are selfish desires— I can’t and <em>shouldn’t</em>. So yes, Alaric, I want us to pretend everything is fine even though it’s obviously not. I want us to act as normal as we can, just as friends. We won’t speak about all the things on our mind, we won’t bring anyone into the conflict, we’ll simply pretend it isn’t a thing and move on from it. Maybe in three years, we can return to this conversation and see where we are then, because I can guarantee that I will <em>still</em> be in love with you then— maybe even for the next bloody century. So please, stop being so damn nice and stop taking the blame and just let me feel like shit so that I can use it to fuel this stupid facade that’ll ensure we’re both giving our all to the twins. Anything else will just hurt them, and if I hurt them, I will never be able to recover from it.”</p><p>Alaric nodded, and she let go of him. “Alright,” he said, seeing that she had immediately looked away again. “I just… I just want to ask how we’re supposed to hide this from your siblings when they probably heard it.”</p><p>“I asked Freya to cast a Silencing Spell before we even got here,” she muttered, moving past him. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go help Kol.”</p><p>“Hilda.”</p><p>She stopped in the doorway, wiping her eyes quickly. “What?” she said as softly as she could.</p><p>“I just want you to know that in three years, I’ll still be in love with you, too.”</p>
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<a name="section0057"><h2>57. Chapter 57</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda put on a smile as she approached Kol.</strong>
</p><p>“How are those twins, eh?” he asked as he and Freya leaned over the coffee table in the living room, with a map laid out and the letters bursting inside of a mortar. </p><p>“They’re sleepy,” she said casually. “Hope’s down for her nap, too. Poor thing, I think she’s slightly irritated that they don’t do much right now, but they’ll come around eventually.”</p><p>Klaus and Elijah came into the room at that moment, and Hilda got to work using the pestle to crush the letter ash while Kol took the goblet of Klaus’s blood from Freya and held it up for his brother to see. “Mixing the ashes of these letters with your blood, Nik, will show us where your enemies are.”</p><p>Hilda handed him the ashes, and Kol sprinkled them over the blood, handing it back to Freya. She poured the mixture over the map, which was held down by white candles. Kol extracted a spell written on fresh parchment and handed it to his oldest sister. “With feeling, now.”</p><p>Freya smiled at him and drew a deep breath before beginning to chant, “<em>Calaste piso tal tras es tros. Calaste piso tal tras es tros.</em>”</p><p>The blood that’d pooled in the center split into eleven smaller droplets, which each began to move without smearing the paper. From those that remained in North America, one seemed to situate itself in Chicago, one in San Diego, one in New Orleans, and one was somewhere in Central Mexico. The others moved off to different continents— three went into Europe and occupied spots in Belgium, Italy, and Russia, two went to Africa and planted themselves over Nigeria and Mozambique, and the final one came to stop in South Korea.</p><p>“Behold your greatest hits, Klaus,” said Freya. “All over the world. But only one is here. Which means the legion of enemies you were worried about is an army of one.”</p><p>“I assure you, this is your Gaspar Cortez,” said Kol, dipping down to circle the singular dot over Louisiana. But Klaus did not answer. He looked down at his phone and frowned before speeding away.</p><p>“A ‘thank you’ might’ve been nice,” said Hilda, putting her hands on her hips. Kol shrugged and nudged her with his foot. “Come with me, sister.”</p><p>She followed him down the hallway and down the stairs to one of the lower studies. A woosh let them know Elijah had also left the Compound. “Good,” said Kol. “We won’t be overheard.”</p><p>“What’s the matter?” asked Hilda, now worried.</p><p>He bit his lip. “The blood, Hilly. I promised Davina that I was in control, but now that I’m a vampire again, the cravings are hard to resist.”</p><p>She cast him a sympathetic look. “That happened with me during my pregnancy. Rather than trying to avoid blood altogether, I tried to limit the amount I was having once I stopped gorging it in the first month. You only need enough to sustain yourself. If you let it go completely, you’ll be more likely to attack her.”</p><p>Kol shook his head. “I don’t know if I should risk it, Hilly. I want to feed on her, really, really badly.” There was obviously something he wasn’t saying, but Hilda interpreted it in her own way.</p><p>“The desire makes the cravings stronger,” she said knowingly. “It er— happened with Alaric a lot. That hunger for her is making you want to feed on her, I bet.”</p><p>He nodded, letting her think she was right. “Yes, of course, that probably makes sense…”</p><p>“You need to be honest with her, Kol. I know she’s heard the stories but she trusts you all the same and she deserves to know the truth. She might even be able to do a spell to help you out. But tell her that you’re feeling hungry and she’ll try to understand, I know she will.”</p><p>“And if she doesn’t?” he muttered. “If she decides she’s safer when she’s away from me? That’s probably a smart idea…”</p><p>“Don’t say that.” She put her hands on his chest. “Do you hear that? You may be a vampire but you still have a heart and it is still beating. Albeit slower than hers, but it’s there. Talk to her, Kol, she won’t turn away. She— she joined The Strix to bring you back. That girl loves you, and she deserves to know how you feel, even if it isn’t something she likes. That’s how a healthy relationship works.”</p><p>Kol sighed and moved to change the subject. “What of you and Alaric, then? Are you two not a thing?”</p><p>“No,” she said smoothly. “We don’t think it’s wise to jump into that, not when we’ve got newborns. Maybe in the future, you know, but for now, it’s just a friendly co-parenting experience.”</p><p>Thankfully, Kol didn’t catch her in a lie. “Look at you,” he said, smiling and patting her arm. “I leave and come back to find you’re back with the man you fancy and you have children with him. I’m not the biggest fan of children, you know that, but knowing that those two are your daughters… they’re perfect, Hilly. You’re going to be an excellent mother. It makes me happy to see that you… you’ve grown and you’ve found something that makes you smile so much. It thrills me even more that I get to see it with my own eyes. To watch you teach them how to talk and walk the way you did with Henrik… eventually teaching them magic.” He took her hands. “I promise, I’m going to work to be the best uncle I can be. Tell me how I can support you, and I will. I expect you’re going to make me want children of my own. I can imagine Davina wouldn’t mind that, if we can manage a spell to make it happen.”</p><p>Hilda leaned onto him, pulling him into another hug. “It feels more amazing than I ever thought it could, Kol. It gives me hope. People can change for the better. I’ve managed it decently well. I just want to be able to be the mother the girls deserve.”</p><p>“And you will be, I’m sure of it.” He kissed the top of her head. “Now, do you think I could perhaps bring Davina by tomorrow so she can meet them properly? Nik sort of rushed her out of the house in a hurry, and she loves babies.”</p><p>“Yes, of course,” she said. “You better marry that girl one day, I demand it.”</p><p>He chuckled. “I’m certain I will. And you better marry Alaric.”</p><p>Hilda cast him a tight-lipped smile. “We’ll see.”</p><p>The twins made their way back up to the living room, where Freya was taking notes of where the dots were and trying to assume who they might be, based off of the notes she’d apparently taken on the letters. They suddenly heard a dripping noise, and as they looked back down to the map, they saw the blood had started to move toward New Orleans, now leaving trails that smeared the surface of the paper.</p><p>“It never stops,” muttered Freya as Kol and Hilda shared a worried look. “Never.” </p><p>When their brothers returned shortly afterward, they became aware of this new movement. “So this may only be a fraction of our potential enemies,” said Elijah as he stared down.</p><p>Kol chuckled and nodded. “In hindsight, we could've been nicer to people. Or at least left fewer survivors, like Hilly did.”</p><p>“We don’t know all their motivations,” said Klaus irritably, facing Elijah. “Half of these people could want to put the bullet in <em>your</em> heart! End the sire war with the pull of a trigger.”</p><p>Elijah was unfazed. “I have an army devoted to keeping me alive. The only people that care to protect you are standing in this very room. As you well know, Niklaus, there is another way.”</p><p>Hilda crossed her arms as Klaus considered it. “You’d do it again?” she mumbled.</p><p>Freya blinked in confusion. “You’re going to <em>run?”</em></p><p>Klaus laughed lightly. “There was a time when the name Klaus Mikaelson was little more than a rumor. A shadowy figure who cast fear into the very bones of any who heard whisper of him. I don't run, sister. I <em>disappear</em>. And tonight, the four of you are going to make that possible.” He held up a burlap sack that had some bloodstains over the bottom of it.”</p><p>Hilda and Kol got to work on the spell, while Elijah took care of the sack, which apparently contained Gaspar Cortez’s head. Freya made preparations for performing yet another spell, and Alaric came down about an hour later with the twins and Hope, who was now awake.</p><p>Hope squealed and came running to hug Hilda’s leg. “Where Mama?”</p><p>“She’ll be back from the Bayou any second, darling,” said Hilda, patting her head. “She was busy with the wolves today.”</p><p>Kol smiled a bit at Hope, then looked up at Alaric, seeing that he was looking at Hilda. “I can finish up, sister,” he told her. “I believe your little ones want some attention.”</p><p>She cast him a small smile and moved to Alaric, avoiding his gaze. “Here we go,” she said, taking Lizzie carefully. “Ah, you’re nice and awake— did you have a good nap?”</p><p>Lizzie gurgled, and Hilda smiled, resting her on her chest with her head on her shoulder so that she could see Kol, who was grinning at her. Josie started to fuss at the sight of this, and Alaric moved her in a similar position before going to sit on one of the chairs.</p><p>“Already changed their diapers,” he told Hilda as she sat across from him.</p><p>“Thank you,” she said as Hope climbed onto her lap, trying to get a better glimpse of Lizzie. Hilda turned her so that Lizzie could look at Hope, too, and Hope started to giggle.</p><p>“Liz is not happy,” observed Hope as Lizzie scrunched up her face, as if wanting to cry.</p><p>“Maybe she’s still tired,” said Hilda, rocking the baby in her arms. “Or maybe, she’s jealous that she can’t talk like you.”</p><p>This delighted Hope. “You talk soon, Liz,” she promised. “Soon, soon, soon. And Jo too. Then we play!”</p><p>“Once they’re big enough, they’re going to love playing with you,” said Alaric, making Hope climb off of Hilda’s lap and go to Alaric’s so that she could see Josie. </p><p>“Jo so calm,” she said, patting her head very gently and affectionately. “Liz mad.”</p><p>“I think Josie is just happy that you’re here,” he told her, making Hope squeal. “She wants to grow up to be like you.”</p><p>“Like me!” Hope cried. “No, no, Jo, be like Aunt Hilda. I be like Mama.”</p><p>“Oh?” said Alaric, smiling. “You want to be like Hayley?”</p><p>Hope nodded. “Like my pretty Mama.”</p><p>“That’s right, your mama is very pretty. You look a lot like her.” </p><p>Hope clapped and poked gently at Josie’s tummy. “Jo looks like Aunt Hilda.”</p><p>“She does, a bit,” said Alaric quietly. He looked up, hoping Hilda was looking his way, but she was stroking Lizzie’s face and murmuring very quietly to her.</p><p>Hope then furrowed her brows and sat up, poking Alaric’s face instead. “Name?”</p><p>“My name is Alaric,” he told her. </p><p>The little girl nodded. “Uncle Ric.”</p><p>The man laughed lightly and rubbed her back. “Sure, if that’s what you want to call me. Or you can just call me Alaric, whatever you’re comfortable with.”</p><p>But Hope was no longer paying attention. She started to giggle as Freya came over. “No, no, Aunt Frey, having fun!” she said as Freya picked her up.</p><p>“You need to eat,” said Freya, putting her on her shoulders. “Let’s go find your Papa and see what he wants you to eat today. Maybe he’ll let you have some orange juice.”</p><p>“Ooh, orange, yay!” said Hope as Freya led her away.</p><p>Kol moved over and patted Hilda on the shoulder. “I’m going to get going, sister, I’ve got a date with Davina and I don’t want to be any more late than I already am.”</p><p>She looked up as he moved to tap Lizzie’s hand. “Tell her the truth, alright?” she reminded him.</p><p>“I will, Hilly.” He sped off, and Lizzie flinched at the sound, beginning to cry. “Shh,” soothed Hilda, lifting her up a bit. “Shh, it’s okay…” she looked over at Alaric as she rocked the little girl a bit more. “Do you think we ought to leave, too, if Klaus is?”</p><p>“No,” he said as Josie started to imitate her sister, letting out a wail. “Hey— shh…”</p><p>“Maybe we should,” mumbled Hilda, trying to rub Lizzie’s back.</p><p>“I don’t want to leave,” said Alaric. “And I know you don’t, either. Elijah and Freya will still be here, the twins aren’t in much danger. You just got your brother back, we can manage here for a while longer. The house still isn’t ready either way and using compulsion feels wrong.”</p><p>She bit her lip. “Thank you,” she whispered, looking down as Lizzie finally stopped crying. “Aw, babygirl, what’s the matter? Did you get too scared with Uncle Kol zooming out? I’ll tell him not to do that anymore.”</p><p>Later in the evening by the time Hayley came back and was put in the loop about everything, she and Klaus packed what they needed and came downstairs once Freya had finished performing the spell that Kol and Hilda prepared.</p><p>“Is it done?” asked Klaus worriedly.</p><p>“Yes,” said Freya. “And now any witch who does a locator spell will believe you're right here in New Orleans.”</p><p>Klaus nodded and faced his younger sister. “Thank Kol for me, will you?”</p><p>“I will,” she said. Elijah stepped forward, facing his brother. “Don't stop driving 'til you're absolutely certain that you are safe.”</p><p>Klaus smiled. “You don't have to remind me how precious my cargo is.” He pulled Elijah into a hug, then went to Freya, kissing her on the cheek. “Keep him in line, would you, sister?”</p><p>Freya nodded, and at last, Klaus came to hug Hilda. “I expect to be receiving photographs of the twins at least once per day, for Hope and Hayley to enjoy as well.”</p><p>“I can manage that,” said Hilda, ruffling his hair. “Take care, Nik.”</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>The next morning, they were awoken by a frantic Kol.</p><p>“Hilly, get up!” he said, having come into her room to make her get out of bed.</p><p>She sat up, still heavy with sleep. “Did something happen with the twins?” she asked immediately, stumbling up.</p><p>“No— just— come on!”</p><p>He dragged her to the upstairs study, where he had already gathered Elijah there. “Are you going to tell us why we are being roused from our beds so early?” inquired Elijah.</p><p>“It’s Finn,” said Kol, looking crazed. “He’s here.”</p><p>Elijah and Hilda went rigid. “Are you quite sure?” whispered Elijah.</p><p>Kol nodded. “I saw him with my own eyes. Finn must have come back when Davina resurrected me. The spell was tied to the blood of the Mikaelson line. Either it worked on him, or he found a way to hijack it. Either way, the only ‘how’ I care about right now is how long I'm going to make him suffer before I kill him.”</p><p>Elijah held a finger up as Hilda rubbed Kol’s back, trying to help him calm down. “Restraint, brother, for now.”</p><p>“Why?” Kol scoffed angrily. “Finn is clearly the one spreading rumors about missing white oak. He's luring Nik's enemies out of the woodwork. It's all part of his tedious revenge fantasy.”</p><p>Freya walked into the room behind them. “You're wrong. Those rumors began before either of you returned. Finn's innocent.”</p><p>“Innocent?” said both the twins incredulously. </p><p>“Pardon me, love, but Finn tried to kill the rest of us more than once,” said Kol.</p><p>“Not to mention he was a complete arse the last time I saw him,” added Hilda scathingly. </p><p>Freya held her hands up, gesturing for them to hear her out. “He <em>is</em> our family. Finn's return is an opportunity to mend old wounds and fix what's broken.”</p><p>Kol became infuriated. “He didn't just drop a bloody vase! He <em>murdered</em> me! Do you understand that, Freya? This entire time, I could have been with my girlfriend, the two of us aiding my sister, who was pregnant and alone in Mystic Falls. I was robbed of valuable time!”</p><p>Elijah and Freya were not paying attention. “You seem certain,” said Elijah, walking toward Freya.</p><p>“Are you honestly siding with her?” demanded Kol.</p><p>Elijah continued, “Time and time again,” he told Freya, “Finn has demonstrated nothing but contempt toward his family. So, you tell me— how can you be so certain that he would return to us in peace?”</p><p>Freya did not need to answer, because at that moment, Finn walked into the room, keeping his arms up in surrender. “Our sister knows me well. Though, perhaps you're right to doubt my intentions. By all means, let's discuss our family quarrels. I believe we're long overdue.”</p><p>Hilda stepped protectively in front of Kol. “Yes, we are.”</p><p>Elijah said nothing to Finn. He simply raised his phone to his ear and walked out, leaving the twins to glare at Finn. “You dare enter our home?” said Hilda darkly. She looked at Freya. “How could you let him in? My daughters are asleep not one hundred feet from here and he was hell bent on snatching up Hope and seeing her killed!”</p><p>Freya made to answer, but Finn looked utterly confused. “Excuse me?” he said. “Daughters? What in the bloody hell are you talking about?”</p><p>“It doesn’t matter,” snapped Kol, stepping forward. “You’re going to walk right out and not come back.”</p><p>Finn sneered. “You don’t command me, Kol.”</p><p>“I’ll make you, then!” </p><p>Defensively, Finn aimed a hit, but Kol easily caught his hand and began to retaliate, making both Hilda and Freya try to intervene. Kol was relentless, he was slashing his fists about and Finn only attempted to dodge, as if trying to tire him out.</p><p>“Take a swing at me, huh?” growled Kol. “All these side-steps and parries... Even the way you <em>fight</em> is boring.”</p><p>“It’s an odd critique, considering all your flair and flourish couldn't keep you from being bested the last time we faced each other!” yelled Finn.</p><p>Kol shoved Finn in the chest, and Hilda yanked him back. “Kol, stop it— we’re not going to manage anything right now—”</p><p>A new figure sped into the room, moving Finn back before Kol could leap out of Hilda’s hold. Lucien was there, and not a second later, so was Elijah.</p><p>“Behave yourselves!” he said sternly. “Particularly considering we'll be confined here together for the foreseeable future.”</p><p>“What does that mean?” snapped Kol.</p><p>“I believe the term is ‘staycation,’” said Elijah. “You see, Niklaus isn't the only one who's inspired revenge fantasies. Right now, we are <em>all</em> at risk, and need I remind you that two little girls who are not even a week old are residing in this house? While Marcel works to retrieve the white oak, I recommend we dispense with the posturing and get down to some good, old-fashioned family bonding.”</p><p>Finn scoffed. “Then you can start by telling me what the hell you mean by ‘two little girls’ under this roof.”</p><p>“Hilda had twin girls just days ago,” said Freya in exasperation. “I will explain it to you, brother.”</p><p>But Finn shoved her hand away and looked at Hilda in disbelief. “<em>You? A mother?</em> Since when have you given a damn about any child?”</p><p>“You don’t know me as well as you think you do, Finn,” she said venomously. “And I have no desire to speak with you. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go check on my daughters because I’m certain this racket has woken them up.”</p><p>When she got to the room, she found the twins were, indeed, crying, and Alaric was trying to get them to stop. “I’m sorry,” said Hilda hastily, taking Lizzie, who always seemed to cry harder. “Stupid Finn is here.”</p><p>“What?” gasped Alaric as he took Josie. “But how?”</p><p>“Apparently when Davina brought Kol back, Finn was resurrected, too. I want nothing to do with that bastard— I was the only one who ever treated him with respect and he repaid me by killing my twin brother. I don’t want him anywhere near these girls. But Freya adores him and just— ugh.” She rubbed Lizzie’s back impatiently. “I hate him. I don’t care that he’s my brother. Elijah may have robbed me of centuries with Tristan, but at least he didn’t kill him. Finn took away the only person who truly comprehends me after I had already watched him die once. He has no idea how fucked up a person gets after seeing their twin die a <em>second</em> time. If it hadn’t been for you and Jo giving Hayley tips, I’m certain I could have killed someone close.”</p><p>Alaric pursed his lips. “If you want to stay here with them, I can bring you anything you need. Finn won’t even know who I am, it won’t matter.”</p><p>“No, I don’t want you near him either, he’s a bloody lunatic,” she said, shaking her head as Lizzie finally stopped crying. “Ugh… I’m sorry, girls, no time in the sun today, I don’t want you having to meet your dreadful Uncle Finn. Either way, Hope isn’t here to play with you… I should go to Kol. He’s got to be feeling awful right now.”</p><p>“Yeah, sure,” said Alaric, setting Josie on the bed before taking Lizzie from her. “I think they need more rest, so by the time you get back, they’ll probably just be waking up and hungry.”</p><p>“Thank you for everything,” she told him gently as she made her way to the door. “Really, I appreciate it.”</p><p>Although it hurt her that they could not be more than friends, she was glad to at least have him at her side.</p>
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<a name="section0058"><h2>58. Chapter 58</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <strong>Hilda went to check on Kol, who was livid.</strong>
</p><p>“They haven’t told him to piss off,” sneered Kol as he paced in the dining room. “What the hell do they think they’re doing? You’ve got two little girls in danger because of him being here and I can’t stand to see his stupid face.”</p><p>“You ought to distract yourself,” suggested Hilda as she came to stand beside him. “Call Davina. She can come to see the babies.”</p><p>Kol decided he liked this idea. He called Davina, and within fifteen minutes, she had arrived. Ignoring the distant conversation between Freya and Finn, Hilda led Kol and Davina to her room and through the adjoining door to where Alaric had finished putting the babies into their onesies for the day.</p><p>Davina squealed and moved forward slowly, sitting at the edge of the bed. “They’re so cute, aw, they look bigger already!”</p><p>“You can hold Josie,” offered Alaric, picking up the smaller twin. “Lizzie’s a bit fussy at the moment.”</p><p>To prove his point, Lizzie started to whine and squirm, gurgling almost angrily. Hilda picked her up and set her facing the others while she rubbed her belly. Davina took Josie and cradled her carefully, adjusting the little hat she had on to warm her ears. </p><p>Hilda and Kol were watching for a moment, but both tensed when they heard the start of a more violent conversation downstairs. “Now he’s yelling at Freya,” said Kol darkly, making his way to the door. Hilda followed, and the two sped to one of the downstairs lounges, where it seemed Finn had indeed grown cross with Freya. The twins remained hidden in the shadows, since it seemed Elijah had already come to intervene.</p><p>“Freya, would you excuse us just a moment, please?” asked Elijah. “I believe my brother and I have some catching up to do.”</p><p>The twins heard Freya storm out, and from the distance, they could hear her sniffling— Finn must have made her cry. Elijah spoke again, “So, tell me— how was Hell? Is it warm this time of year?”</p><p>Kol stifled a snort as Finn sighed. “You always had a penchant for idle chat.”</p><p>“Well, perhaps we could discuss something a bit more constructive.”</p><p>“Do you intend to threaten me into being a better brother?” snapped Finn.</p><p>“Depends,” replied Elijah. “Why are you here?”</p><p>“Could you believe me if I told you I’d changed?” asked Finn.</p><p>“Have you?” inquired Elijah skeptically.</p><p>They heard Finn moving around the room. “Yes... and no. All that time trapped alone in Freya's pendant, I was able to reflect on what we've become over a millennium. I'm still sickened by what you are, but I'm done trying to atone for past sins.”</p><p>“It is curious the way you speak as though you and I are not the same,” mused Elijah.</p><p>“We are not the same!” Finn sneered. “You see, I still have a chance at some small happiness, and I'm going to take it. My proposal is simple— allow Freya to put me back in a witch's body. Let the two of us go, and I promise never to look back again.”</p><p>At this, Kol growled and sped away. Hilda made to follow, but she heard her two brothers cease their conversation. Elijah walked away, and in her annoyance, Hilda moved through the doors to confront Finn. “That’s it, then?” she said coldly. “You just want to steal another body? You think that’ll make you happy?”</p><p>He faltered at the sight of her. “I… I was told by Freya about how you came to become a mother.”</p><p>“Ah, should I be prepared for grotesque insults right about now?” she said, crossing her arms. “Going to tell me how much you pity those little girls? Have at it, Finn, I’m sufficiently exhausted and I wouldn’t mind bashing your face in.”</p><p>“I wasn’t going to say anything cruel,” he said, sitting down in the armchair behind him. “I simply don’t understand how you can be a mother and still want to keep your vampiric nature.”</p><p>“I get it, you’re disgusted by us— you hate that we became like leeches that tore away at innocent people. But let me remind you, Finn, after all the people I’ve hurt, I haven’t strayed from the belief that you and I alone shared, in the past. You claim you’ve changed a bit. So have I. Perhaps I don’t want to be a monster anymore. I don’t want my daughters to know what a terrible person I am. But I like my immortality. I like being able to heal myself up after a surgery to give birth. I like having the power to heal anyone I want to heal, if they’re injured. Have I considered becoming human? Yes. But I don’t think I need to do that to be happy. I can still be in this body and I can be perfectly pleased with my life. It’s about control, mediation, doing the right thing and getting help when you need it. You shouldn’t need to steal a body to be happy. Wouldn’t you rather look like yourself? Or do you really find joy in possessing the features of someone else?”</p><p>He thought it over. “I would rather look like myself,” he admitted. “But not if I’m going to hunger for the blood of every person I come across.”</p><p>“There are spells for that, there is control to be learned. You and I managed it better than any of our siblings, at one point. You were the one who taught me how to be in control of myself so that I could keep Kol in check.”</p><p>
  <em>“You have to help me,” Hilda pleaded, collapsing beside Finn, her mouth covered in blood. She was breathing heavily and holding her head. “I just went through about twenty people and I couldn’t stop feeding. It tastes so good…”</em>
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  <em>Finn sighed, trying to ignore the stench of the blood. “Your problem, sister, is that you love the taste and you somehow think that you’ll never have it again if you don’t consume as much as possible in one instant. The blood will never cease to flow. There will always be humans to feed on. I drink from only one person per day, and it is sufficient. You need to focus on strengthening your mind, not your body. In feeding so much, you think it brings you more power, but any real power would come from being able to feed little and still be mighty enough to overcome anyone who tries to harm you.”</em>
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  <em>She laughed bitterly. “You sound like Mikael…”</em>
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  <em>“Forget Mikael. Forget that wretched father of ours and focus on yourself, Hilly. You are, perhaps, the fiercest of all of us. Your ferocity comes in the fact that you are more calculating than our brothers. You bide your time and wait for the right moment to strike. That’s an admirable quality— patience.”</em>
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  <em>“I’m not patient, Finn,” she muttered. “Ever since we were turned, I haven’t been able to control anything. My mind is screaming at me to do all these terrible things. I fear that in death and transition, an illness was placed into my body and Kol’s.”</em>
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  <em>“You are patient,” he reaffirmed. “When we were younger, you waited hours at our mother’s side to tend to our youngest siblings. You would remain at Mikael’s side for unending periods of time just to watch what he did and learn to do it yourself from observation. Though, perhaps, you and Kol are more temperamental than the rest of us, you still can be patient. That anger you feel is being dragged out from the deepest depths of you. The little girl I remember could sit and smile without growing frustrated. There is still a part of you inside that can manage it, Hilly. You just need to focus.”</em>
</p><p>Finn had been the one who taught her how to have more self-control in those moments where her illness didn’t act up. For several months, he had aided her in taking smaller amounts of blood. At the very least, as long as she was in a good mood, she could go days without blood, and she became less violent. But no one but Kol could help her when she lost all control of her mind, despite having strengthened it under Finn’s influence. </p><p>Finn refrained from looking at her. “I despise relying on blood. If I had a different face, I could leave and only return when I wished to. You and Kol, most of all, must understand my frustration. They are selfish and have always shoved the three of us aside. Were I to remain in this body, I’d always be labeled as an Original. I’d be targeted by default and I would have to be involved in Niklaus’s messes, the way you are.”</p><p>“They are changing, Finn,” Hilda muttered. “Perhaps, a year ago, I felt that I never wanted to see them again. But Nik has grown much better since he became a father. Elijah has opened up about things he has done and at least let us see the truth in several matters. Rebekah became more independent of both of them and is much kinder off her own accord. Freya has lifted the burden that Mikael placed on me, and has helped me feel free. When I was pregnant, I was alone in Mystic Falls, only able to contact our siblings through a device. Kol was dead and Rebekah has been unavailable, and I wished so badly I could have one of them at my side— it didn’t matter which one. There will always be squabbles and I will never truly forget the things they have done to me. I don’t intend to stay here too long, and I don’t want to constantly be visiting, but we can make an attempt to be normal. To speak to each other without arguing. But that’s a group effort, and if you’re so intent on leaving, you won’t get to see that they are becoming more accepting of me and of Kol. You can have a chance, too.”</p><p>Finn drummed his fingers against his thigh. “I should not have killed Kol,” he said very quietly. “I thought… I thought you’d all find a solution to the spell. I was too stubborn to help him. I felt betrayed. For the first time, I thought I had one of my brothers backing me up, but he chose to help them instead. I had no idea you were daggered and that Kol would keep his affliction a secret. It was wrong of me, Hilda, and… I apologize.”</p><p>She drew a deep breath. “It’s not me you should be apologizing to. It’s Kol.”</p><p>“I know. I… I simply do not wish for there to be another quarrel. Unfortunately, our brothers and I have never seen eye to eye. You were kindest to me. Even Rebekah hardly chose to speak with me.”</p><p>She huffed. “You say that I was kindest to you, yet you still dislike me. I don’t understand where we went wrong. I looked up to you all the time when we were children. You were the oldest, the unofficial third parent that made sure we were well fed even when Mikael mistreated us. You used to play with Kol and I and you tried to help us be better at fighting when Mikael insulted us. For nearly a century you were almost my favorite brother, because you alone seemed to comprehend that I didn’t want to turn anyone. Even Kol judged me for it, but you didn’t. We’d take walks together and speak and it was genuinely enjoyable, but now, it’s as though I’m nothing but an abomination to you.”</p><p>“I don’t dislike you, Hilda,” he mumbled. “I simply feel sadness when I look at you.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“It’s no secret that you bore a remarkable resemblance to our eldest sister. When you were born, I thought perhaps things would be better— you’d fill the void in both Mikael and I’s hearts and we’d be a happy family. But then he began to mistreat you, and when I tried to defend you, he struck me. It angered me that he wasn’t more patient. It angered me that our mother continued to force me into lying about what really happened to Freya. She helped you and Kol become witches as though she hadn’t abandoned her child with Dahlia. I asked her to teach me, too, and she hardly did— do you recall that you and Kol were the ones that taught me? </p><p>“Perhaps you all call me a sycophant for devoting myself to our mother, but I never truly felt like I mattered as much as the rest of you did, and when we were all turned, she supported me the most. You were a constant reminder of what I lost and I thought perhaps I could protect you, but when you became so bloodthirsty and we realized that you and Kol had both been cursed with a mental illness as a result of the transition, I felt that loss all over again. I felt as though I had failed at helping you. You needed support that I could not provide. I did teach you control, but that was <em>nothing</em>. I couldn’t stop you from feeling the guilt or fury that came when something rubbed off the wrong way. </p><p>“It felt as though I lost my sister all over again and I drew away because you were a constant reminder that I would never see Freya again— or so I thought. Then, I was daggered, and by the time we saw each other again that day in Mystic Falls, things had forever changed. You and Kol were the best of friends, our siblings still shoved you aside, and there was no room for me there. I reverted to helping my mother because that pain built up over nine centuries and I just wanted release. I thought that if we were eradicated, you would be free of your pain, too. I didn’t mean to tear away the life you had, Hilda, I thought I was doing something right by helping her link us and assisting her in removing our species. </p><p>“I should not have tried to kill all of you. I should not have killed Kol. I should have at least tried to speak about it. But how could I hope that any of you would listen? It could be true, what you say about our siblings changing. And I can almost believe it. However, I don’t want to risk any more hurt. The only siblings I need are you and Freya, and I can speak to you both from a distance. I don’t want the bloodlust. I don’t care about the power that comes with being an Original. I prefer the magic so that I can have just one small fraction of humanity, because it feels as though I have nothing left. If I had the ability to create, it would calm me. Surely you can understand that. You may not want to be a witch anymore now that you have daughters to protect— something facilitated by your vampiric nature. But is it really so wrong of me to want release and to want to be part of this family from a distance?”</p><p>Hilda mulled it over, staring at one of the paintings on the wall. She sighed and looked back at him. “Finn, I would like it if we could at least try to work it out, just as you are right now. Apologize to Kol, and he and I can see what we can do, if change is what you truly want. I can’t guarantee we’ll choose a solution that will put you in another’s body and change your appearance entirely, but we may be able to do spells that’ll use someone else as an anchor for a mirror image, a version of yourself that wouldn’t be a vampire, but a witch. You’d look exactly the same. The person hosting you would still be displaced, but it might be something better. It’d be a complex spell but if Freya channels me, I’m sure she could manage it. All of this… it needs to be said to our siblings. You can’t just be hostile. You have to open up if you want them to be accepting. I learned that the hard way. They don’t respond well to opposition, we know that. But if you’re honest about your needs, I guarantee that they will be open to helping you. I swear, they have changed. I never felt I was included in ‘Always and Forever’ but nowadays, I do feel that it’s true. Nothing will come about if you don’t try to at least tell them all this. They need to know or they’ll never understand.”</p><p>Finn nodded. “I… I will apologize to him.” He looked up. “And you… you don’t have to say yes… but I would like to know more about your daughters. Freya only glossed over the details.”</p><p>Hilda came to sit beside him. “Well, the Gemini Coven placed them inside of me to protect them. I brought them to term after difficult months of insane cravings and lots of drowsiness. They are siphon witches, and it was leaving me incredibly nauseous. They’re only five days old, but they’re sweet. It’s been a lot of work but I genuinely enjoy parenting them.”</p><p>“From what I last heard, you despised children.”</p><p>“When I helped Rebekah raise Hope in that time when our mother had commanded the New Orleans witches to kill her, I felt… a happiness I hadn’t experienced before. It reminded me of when Henrik was smaller, and I found that children weren’t all that bad. I had convinced myself I disliked them because I was afraid of what kind of mother I would be after the terrible influence our parents had on me. It’s… it’s been a learning process, and I’m still terrified I’ll mess the twins up, but I’m doing my best, for their sake. Being human might be nice but I want to protect them and the best way to do that is to remain a vampire.”</p><p>“When they are older, do you believe you might want to be a human?”</p><p>“I think… yes. Once I know they can take care of themselves. I don’t want to live forever if it means I’ll have to watch them and Alaric eventually die. I couldn’t handle that. As soon as I’m certain that I’ve done all I can to give them a good basis, then I would likely try to be mortal once again.”</p><p>He pursed his lips. “If… in the future… you believe you can trust me… I would like to meet them.”</p><p>She half-smiled. “I can agree to that. But like I said… apologize to Kol first. Show him that you’re actually sorry, please.”</p><p>She got up and patted his shoulder before going to find Kol, who was in one of the rooms glaring at Elijah. It seemed the two had just finished having a conversation. Kol straightened up at the sight of Hilda. “What’s that prick got to say?”</p><p>“He sounds sorry,” she mused. “But I told him he has to apologize to you himself. I do think he wants to try to be part of this family in a healthy manner but he’s just uncertain that it’ll pan out the way he wants it to.”</p><p>Kol looked almost mutinous. “Don’t tell me you’re siding with him, too!” he spat, speeding up to her and making her flinch. “He <em>murdered</em> me!”</p><p>Elijah jumped between them, and Hilda growled. “I never said I’m siding with him, I’m just trying to understand how he feels, Kol, there’s nothing wrong with that. You don’t think I’m still angry that he killed you?”</p><p>“Doesn’t seem like it,” hissed Kol. “You’ve been having a perfect bloody time without me, haven’t you? Shagging Tristan and getting Alaric and two perfect little girls— the ideal family you’ve always secretly wanted. Bet it was nice to be alive.”</p><p>Hilda stared at him in disbelief. “What’s the matter with you? I’m not saying I’ve forgiven him, I’m only determining if he can be trusted. I’m trying to ensure he apologizes to you!”</p><p>“An apology won’t cut it!” Kol bellowed, and Elijah shoved him back. “Control yourself!” he said darkly. “You’re not yourself, Kol. When have you ever tried to attack our sister like this? Do you hear yourself?”</p><p>Kol took several deep breaths, his vampire face appearing for an instant before he turned away. “It’s the hunger. I can’t control anything. I smell blood everywhere— Davina, Alaric, the twins— they’re all mortal and they all look delicious and I don’t want to hurt them but it’s like I can’t control it, especially not with Davina. And Finn being here makes it more difficult.”</p><p>Hilda held her hands up in surrender. “Don’t talk to him if you don’t want to. I’m simply saying that hearing him out might not be the worst idea.” She was trembling slightly, seeing that Kol looked downright furious. </p><p>But suddenly they all went rigid at the sound of a scream. Kol sped down first, and Hilda and Elijah followed just in time to watch Kol yanking Finn off of Davina, who he’d pinned against the wall in a chokehold. Finn sneered and tried to fight back, but Kol was much stronger, and it took the combined efforts of Elijah and Hilda as well as Freya’s magic to tear them away from each other. Behind their eldest sister was Lucien, who apparently was still visiting.</p><p>Kol shoved Hilda off of him, grabbing a nearby vase and throwing it across the room, making Davina flinch. “I’d rather take my chances out there with the white oak than stay here with you lot.” He glared at Freya, Finn, and Elijah before nodding at Hilda and walking out the door, Davina following closely behind. </p><p>Freya pulled Finn to his feet as Elijah reached into his pocket. “Marcel has paid us a visit.” He revealed a white oak bullet. “The last remaining white oak in the world… right here.” He gestured to Freya. “Sister, if you would be so kind?”</p><p>Freya flicked her wrist, igniting the fire pit just a few meters away from them. They walked out, but just as Elijah threw the bullet into the fire, Finn reached it, yelling in pain as the flames burned him before he managed to extract the bullet.</p><p>He panted heavily, falling onto his knees and holding the bullet. “The little witch has condemned me to this!” he yelled. “To remain a beast! Elijah… Hilda… I can’t bear an eternity with no hope of escape. Can you?”</p><p>Elijah stepped slightly forward. “Finn, give it to me.” Finn shook his head, and Elijah prompted again. “Give it to me.”</p><p>Impatient, Lucien sped forward and snatched the bullet from Finn before holding it up. At first, everyone seemed suspicious, until he tossed it to Elijah, who caught it. “Come on, then,” said Lucien when he didn’t immediately toss it into the fire pit. After all this time… go on and destroy it.”</p><p>Finn tried to plead with his brother. “Elijah, forever is a burden that nobody should have to bear.”</p><p>“You cannot keep that white oak in this house, Elijah,” said Lucien sharply. “It is already a beacon drawing your enemies to you. I have only just learned that your sister has her daughters here— don’t tell me you think it wise to keep <em>it</em> here.”</p><p>Hilda felt herself tense as Elijah looked down at the bullet, not sure what to do. Lucien decided that this was taking too long. “Perhaps the best solution is obvious?” he asked. “Entrust it to the one who loves each of you most.”</p><p>The siblings all turned to Freya, who immediately nodded. “I can cloak myself. If it has to exist, at least I can take it far away. Hide it under a thousand spells, somewhere where no one else will ever find it.” She looked over at Finn with a pained look in her eyes. “Until the day comes when... you're ready for release.”</p><p>Elijah and Hilda shared a worried look, but they both seemed to decide this was the best option. Elijah handed the bullet to Freya, who tucked it into her pocket.</p><p>“Excuse me,” said Hilda, feeling a bit overwhelmed. “I have to go see my daughters.”</p><p>She sped to her room and found Alaric fast asleep with the twins beside him, also napping. She gave a soft sigh and readjusted the pillows on the other side of the twins so they wouldn’t fall, but when she looked over all three faces, she decided she didn’t want to just leave them like that. Feeling tired herself, she moved the pillows and climbed into the bed as well, so that she and Alaric formed a border to keep the twins from falling.</p><p>At the feeling of the bed moving, Alaric cracked his eyes open. “Sorry… fell asleep. What happened?”</p><p>“We have the white oak,” Hilda whispered, tucking her hand under her head as her other arm moved to caress each twin’s head in intervals. “Finn… is wanting to be part of the family, just from a distance. And Kol… I fear something is wrong with him. He snarled in my face today and he’s never done that. The last time he was angry at me even slightly was that day you both were present when the veil dropped, and he thought that I abandoned him to be with… you.”</p><p>“Hey,” he whispered, taking her hand and making her look away before closing her eyes. “Everything is going to be okay. I know it might not seem like it, but things will work themselves out.”</p><p>She pulled her hand out of his grasp, using it to pull the blanket over the four of them. “I hope so,” she mumbled, casting him a small smile before falling asleep.</p>
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<a name="section0059"><h2>59. Chapter 59</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>While they were eating breakfast, Kol and Davina burst in.</strong>
</p><p>Hilda and Alaric had come down for once rather than bringing the food to the room to feed the twins simultaneously. It was taxing to get the platters up and set down somewhere, because every piece of furniture had some sort of baby item on top of it. Elijah said they could simply compel a servant to bring up the food with a table, but neither Hilda nor Alaric wanted that, therefore, they’d gathered their wits to go into the dining room with the twins in tow to have what they hoped might be a normal breakfast with a hostile Finn and a pensive Elijah.</p><p>“Good morning,” said Elijah with a cordial grin, standing from his seat at the sight of the twins. Finn had to do a double take out of surprise, and it seemed he was having trouble containing a smile of delight.</p><p>There was an unspoken agreement that Finn could see, but not touch. He didn't mind. He ate without looking at his plate, keeping his eyes fixated on the little girls who were now happily drinking from their respective bottles. The servants came around to serve Hilda and Alaric their food, which, as usual, made Alaric turn red.</p><p>“I’ll never get used to that,” he mumbled as he sat down, one arm outstretched to hold Josie’s bottle. </p><p>“Trust me, I haven’t gotten used to it, either,” said Hilda gently, looking down at Lizzie and caressing her head to adjust her hat before setting the bottle down once she’d had enough. She picked her up and held her against her chest, using her free hand to support her back while she started to eat. </p><p>A loud ‘woosh’ let them know that a vampire was entering the room, and immediately, the twins began to wail. Kol and Davina made their presence known with a hasty chorus of ‘Sorry’ as Alaric and Hilda both stopped eating to tend to the twins.</p><p>“There’s something you lot need to see,” said Kol urgently. Davina held out a phone nearer to where Hilda was, meaning Elijah and Finn had to get up to be able to see the screen. The three Originals and Alaric leaned down to see a video of Vincent Griffith, looking agitated.</p><p>“Davina, listen,” said Vincent urgently. “I know we are not on the best of terms, but I need you to listen to me, okay? Um— we’re in serious trouble. Now, I’m recording this here because it’s— it’s free from magic, and magic is our enemy. The Ancestors got me on the hook doing some pretty twisted magic, and I want no part of it, but they’re forcing me to help Lucien Castle. And, if you don’t help me, Freya Mikaelson’s gonna die.”</p><p>Freya had left the night before to take the white oak somewhere safe, and instantly, all four siblings tensed at the sound of her name. “Before they forced me to take her,” continued Vincent, “they had me put up a cloaking spell, so we can’t be tracked. Now, Lucien’s taking us out of town someplace, I don’t know where… but there’s a loophole.”</p><p>Davina paused the video and looked at Finn. “He means you.”</p><p>“Just how am I the loophole?” demanded Finn.</p><p>“Last year,” said Kol impatient, “when Esther first brought us back, I got put in the body of a gormless twit, but <em>you</em> got housed in one of the most powerful witch bodies in the city— Vincent's. And, even after all this time, there's still an echo of a body-soul connection between you two.”</p><p>Davina pressed play on the video again. “And Davina,” said Vincent, “that’s where you come into play. I need a powerful witch that’s off the Ancestors’ radar.” In the video, it was shown that he cut into the palm of his hand, letting his blood fall into a vial. “I want you to find the thread between me and Finn.”</p><p>This time, Elijah pressed pause on the video, looking at the young witch. “Have you ever done anything like this?”</p><p>She shook her head. “I don’t know if it’s possible.” She held up the vial that had been shown through the screen. “But, I do have Vincent’s blood. If I can take Finn’s blood and do the spell right, I should be able to track Vincent down. Kol thinks he knows how we can do it.”</p><p>Finn was now pacing the room, and Hilda shared a worried look with Kol as she finally got Josie to stop crying. “I should have sensed something was wrong when Freya didn’t call,” he muttered to himself angrily. “Now Lucien has a head start.” He looked at Davina and waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing her away. “Go, witch, tend to your spells. I won’t rest until she’s found.”</p><p>Kol scoffed in disbelief. “Behold, the selfless martyr! First, he wants to rip Davina's head off for trapping him in his body. Now he can't wait to be spelled.”</p><p>Finn stepped toward Kol, but Elijah got between them. “Finn, you and I shall go together,” he said sternly. “Kol, you stay here with Davina.”</p><p>“You’re going with him?” Kol spat, making Lizzie start to cry even more from how loud he was being. Hilda shot him an irritated look before rocking Lizzie a bit more and stroking her back. “So, the two people responsible for not destroying the white oak when they had the chance, thus putting us in this bloody mess, are now off to try and fix it. That's just <em>marvelous</em>. I mean, what could <em>possibly</em> go wrong?”</p><p>Kol stormed toward Finn this time, but Davina took his hand and turned him around brusquely. “Kol, look at me,” she said, trying not to show that she was obviously afraid. “I don’t know this magic. I need your help. Come on.” She led him away, and Hilda gave a sigh.</p><p>“How can I help?” she inquired. “Do you want me here doing spellwork with Kol or do you want me to go with you?”</p><p>“The spellwork is your strong suit,” said Elijah. “You have children to think about.”</p><p>“I could go with the two of you, then,” offered Alaric. “Hilda can stay with the twins.”</p><p>Hilda snapped her head to look at him. “Are you <em>mental?</em> You can’t go! Lucien will tear you to shreds! If anyone’s going to go—”</p><p>“It will be neither of you!” said Finn sharply as he took a knife and sliced into his palm, depositing the blood into a glass for Davina to use. “Don’t be absurd, Hilda, we have no idea what to expect. Elijah and I can handle it ourselves. My nieces need both their parents. Perhaps Tristan had no intent to harm you, but Lucien will not be so lenient.”</p><p>Elijah put his hands together. “Well then, let us begin.”</p><p>Finn grew aggravated when Elijah beckoned for him to follow him out the door. “Do not give me orders, brother,” he said coldly. And make no mistake— I do not look to you as an ally, or even family. The only reason I tolerate your presence is the hope of finding Freya.”</p><p>“That’s perfectly fine with me,” said Elijah indifferently. “Let’s not dally.” He buttoned his suit again and strolled out of the Compound. Finn followed behind, an air of hostility keeping him from drawing too close.</p><p>Alaric made a face once he heard their footsteps recede. “Well, it’s nice to know he at least has a soft spot for the women in your family.”</p><p>Hilda snorted and set Lizzie back down in her carrier, putting a pacifier in her mouth once she stopped whimpering. “Make no mistake, not all the women are in his good graces. He and Rebekah really don’t get along, and he tried to kill Hope. He adores Freya and he likes me a bit, and of course, he’s softened by the girls here. Who wouldn’t love them?”</p><p>Josie gurgled at this, and Hilda smiled. “Yes, that’s right darling, you’re very lovable.” She sank back down into her chair, her smile fading as she looked at the empty seats around the rest of the table. “I’m certain Kol can manage with Davina. I’m too worried to focus on a spell… he knows the same things that I do, there’s no point in me being there. I think we ought to take a walk out in the city… there’s a lot you haven’t seen and the girls could use some fresh air. We can take advantage of the fact that Lucien is nowhere near here. If I’m needed, Kol will call me.”</p><p>Alaric nodded. “Yeah, of course, let me get the stroller.” He walked out, and Hilda sighed, looking down at the girls. “I think,” she mused, “that your Uncle Kol needs some time alone with his girlfriend after that little squabble. My presence won’t be welcome. And it’s okay, you know, to not always want to be beside your twin. What matters is that you always support each other. Reach out to each other as a resource. He was easily angered with me yesterday and as much as I love him and as much as I want to spend time with him… well, there’s a time and place for things. The important part is that you care for each other even from a distance. Society seems to expect that twins will be the best of friends always, but like in any family, it’s okay to take time away from each other and to build your identities separately.”</p><p>When Alaric returned with the stroller, Hilda quickly strapped the twins in, taking her sunglasses from the bag and putting them on as she began to push them down the street, looking back at the Compound and hoping that Kol and Davina would be alright without them, for a little while. She simply didn’t feel it was a good idea to be so near her brother since he was all wound up with Finn and the fact that Hilda was inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt so long as he apologized. </p><p>They went all down Dumaine St., heading toward Algiers. They passed several voodoo shops that Alaric paused to look into, and they turned on Decatur St. to check out one of the other shops across from a particularly good cafe that Hilda coaxed Alaric into trying. They took a small break at the parks beside the Mississippi River and moved back up St. Louis St. to show Alaric where the Louisiana Supreme Court building was. They moved until they hit Bourbon St., where they stopped every few feet for Alaric to look behind every door to see what he liked. The twins were having a good time— every five seconds, some ‘awed’ or ‘oohed’ at them or mentioned how cute they looked in their onesies. Once they hit Dumaine St. again, they began to return to the Abattoir, making only one final stop at Rousseau’s.</p><p>“They’re not twenty-one yet,” said Alaric teasingly as Hilda pushed the stroller into the bar.</p><p>“Hush, I know, there’s just someone I want them to meet,” she said, going to where she knew Cami would be, sitting and studying and probably just trying to relax for once.</p><p>The young vampire sensed them quickly, and she turned, letting out a gasp when she saw the twins. “Oh my God!” she said, standing up. “Oh… they told me you had the twins but… oh, Hilda, they’re so precious.”</p><p>“Camille, this is Alaric,” said Hilda, beckoning to the man next to her. “Alaric, Cami.” She knelt down in front of the stroller to unbuckle the twins, which made Cami let out another gasp.</p><p>“You don’t have to,” she told her, sounding a bit nervous. She was still getting adjusted to being a vampire, and Hilda knew she probably felt scared she’d hurt them.</p><p>“You can hold them, they will be fine,” said Hilda, taking Josie first and placing her in Cami’s arms. The blonde sighed affectionately and cradled the baby into her as she sat back down in her chair. </p><p>“They’re wonderful,” said Cami, her eyes welled up with tears of joy. </p><p>“They are,” said Hilda as Alaric pulled up chairs for them. “How have you been feeling?”</p><p>Cami half-smiled. “As good as can be expected. This is the first day I’ve felt comfortable enough being outside for… a longer period of time. I was going to barricade myself completely in my apartment, but I didn’t want to be alone for so long.”</p><p>“You’re always free to visit, you know,” said Hilda. “Nik might be… you know, but our doors are always open for you.”</p><p>“Thank you,” said Cami, handing Josie back so that she could take Lizzie. “So— Alaric. I heard that you’re a Professor?”</p><p>Alaric seemed surprised that he was being noticed. “Oh, yeah— I was a history teacher for high school before, but I was an Occult Studies Professor and am going to be a Supernatural Anthropology Professor once we’re in Texas.”</p><p>“Wow,” said Cami. “I can’t imagine teaching that. Psychology is complicated enough. But Supernatural… the Occult… how did you get into that?”</p><p>Alaric shifted in his seat. “Um, it had to do with my ex-wife, she was a parapsychologist, actually. I used to tease her because she was so obsessed with vampires and I didn’t think they existed, but when I began to do the research myself… well, now I’m here, right?”</p><p>Cami laughed lightly. “In a bar watching a vampire hold your daughters, who were carried by one of the Original vampires.”</p><p>“Yes, that,” he agreed with a chuckle. “The teaching part… really only because otherwise, I’d be crammed by myself in an office with nothing to do but write papers. It’s interesting to at least pass on the knowledge and help students be more informed about the world they live in, even if they hardly believe that all of it is real. I had Hilda do a guest lecture in December when it came time for the final exam, and they were just blown away with it.”</p><p>“I think they were more confused as to why I kept throwing up,” said Hilda, scrunching up her nose. </p><p>“That kind of information is so <em>jarring</em> at first,” said Cami knowingly. “At least with the class, they’re eased into it. And look at that, they had no idea that the guest lecturer was an actual vampire.” She looked down at Lizzie and smiled. “She reminds me of my twin brother and I when we were babies… we looked a bit like this.”</p><p>“We’re surrounded by twins,” said Alaric, rubbing the back of his head. “Hilda… Kol… the twins’ biological mother… their aunt and uncle… the entire Coven who’s no more… you… the girls… I’m probably forgetting someone.” </p><p>Once they had exhausted several topics of conversation, Hilda checked the time and let Cami know that they needed to get going, but didn’t tell her why, as to not worry her in case she didn’t know that Vincent and Freya were missing. Hilda and Alaric made their way back to the Abattoir with the twins, who were fast asleep and enjoying a gentle breeze. </p><p>“Damon always talked about how nice New Orleans was,” said Alaric once he was finally able to set down the bag of merchandise he’d indulged in before they met Cami (decorations, he said, for when they got to their house in Texas). “But I had never been. It was a nice experience.”</p><p>“Just wait until you travel into other continents,” said Hilda, picking the twins up and out of the stroller so that they could climb the stairs and check on Kol and Davina. “My family and I have been to practically every country and there is still so much of the world that we haven’t seen.”</p><p>On the third floor, Kol and Davina were working on the spell. “How are things?” asked Hilda gently, leaning into the doorway.</p><p>Kol looked mildly frustrated, but Davina gave Hilda a thumbs up. “We’re close, I can feel it,” she said optimistically. “They’re in Mystic Falls… we just need to know exactly where.”</p><p>“Mystic Falls?” said Hilda, alarmed. “Lucien took them to Mystic Falls?” </p><p>Kol nodded. “Stupid Finn,” he sneered venomously as Alaric excused himself to put the stroller and bags away in the room he was staying in. “I can’t stand that bloody prat…”</p><p>“I know he’s insufferable,” said Hilda softly. “But he wants to leave. Once we get Freya back, I’m sure she’ll keep him from causing any problems.”</p><p>“How can you trust him, Hilly?” demanded Kol, stepping away from Davina.</p><p>She blinked. “I believe we already established that I don’t trust him. I’ve urged him to apologize to you. Even when he does, I don’t intend to be all kind to him. He’s got to earn my respect after what he did to you. I can’t have any faith in him at the moment.”</p><p>“Yes, that’s right— that’s why we saw you in the dining room with him, with the twins right in front of him.”</p><p>“For your information, he didn’t get to hold them, but he can at least <em>see</em> them, they’re <em>still</em> his nieces—”</p><p>“You conveniently forget that he’s the reason I didn’t get to be around to help you when you were pregnant with them!”</p><p>“I didn’t <em>conveniently</em> forget anything, I was missing you the entire time!”</p><p>“You always were a terrible liar, Hilly—”</p><p>The twins started to cry once again, and Hilda gritted her teeth, but before she could say anything, Alaric stepped between her and Kol. “Can you please just let her be?” he said sharply. “She’s not insulting you by trying to get your brother to be better after what he did to you— she’s trying to get him to own up to the fact that he ruined your life, but she’s not going to do it by just yelling at him. You can’t seriously believe that she hasn’t missed you this entire time. Yet here you are, treating her like sh—”</p><p>“Back the bloody hell off!” spat Kol, shoving Alaric back. “Don’t think you’re so high and mighty just because you’re living here— you’re not a Mikaelson and you never will be one, no matter how many children you have with my sister!”</p><p>“Kol, stop it!” said Hilda, holding the wailing twins steady as she offered Alaric her arm so that she could lead him out of the room. As soon as Alaric wrapped his wrist around her hand, she sped them both to the adjoined rooms. Angrily, she moved to set the twins in their cradle, and went to make them their bottles while they continued to sob. “Stupid prat, he’s completely out of control— as soon as Freya’s back, I’m going to sit him down and have her do a cleansing spell…”</p><p>Alaric rubbed the twins’ stomachs to try and calm them, which surprisingly worked. “Hey,” he said, coming over to her once the bottles were ready. “Are you okay?”</p><p>She refrained from looking at him. “Just confused as to why he’s being such a dick.”</p><p>“All he said was that he’s struggling to get used to the cravings?”</p><p>“Mhm. But it’s got to be more than that. I fear he’s been corrupted somehow…”</p><p>Later in the afternoon, they received disturbing news from Elijah.</p><p>“So you found Freya,” said Hilda, her phone on speaker for herself, Alaric, Davina, and Kol to hear. “And you found Vincent. But Lucien is now a monster and he bit Finn and he’s dying so you’re heading home?”</p><p>“Yes,” said Elijah. “Call Niklaus, we need him to make his way back— Finn will need his blood.”</p><p>“Alright,” said Hilda. “Drive fast.” She hung up, and Davina sighed. “At least your sister’s safe,” she tried to say helpfully.</p><p>Kol growled. “And the man that pretended to be a family friend, but actually hated us for an eternity, has turned himself into some creature, which, for all we know, could be the bloody beast the prophecy said would end us!” He punched the mirror in front of him, making both Hilda and Davina flinch as it shattered into pieces.</p><p>“Hey,” said Davina, standing up. “All of this? I don't think it has anything to do with you being a vampire. Cami said it might be magic-related... and I think she's right. Kol, you're not yourself.”</p><p>“Magic related,” mused Hilda, nodding. “I think you might have been cursed without realizing it.”</p><p><em>“Cursed?”</em> he sneered.<em> “Not myself? </em>Which self am I supposed to be? I have been a witch, a vampire, a ghost, a witch in somebody else's body... And now, I am a bloody <em>vampire</em> again.” He grasped onto Davina’s arms roughly, shaking her and making Hilda yank him back. “Let her the hell go!” she snapped. </p><p>“Now you both think I’m cursed!” he yelled, ignoring her as she moved to shield Davina. “But I think it’s everyone else getting into my <em>bloody</em> business and not knowing when to back off!”</p><p>He sped off, and Davina let out a shaky breath, moving immediately to the smashed mirror and pressing her finger over where some of his blood had been spilt. She brought it up to her mouth and murmured a few words, before she shuddered and looked at Hilda. “He is cursed,” she mumbled. “This— this is the Ancestors’ doing.”</p><p>“When he was in the well, they must have done something to torment him,” said Hilda, rubbing her temples. “They made all his symptoms worse. He’s never been this temperamental.” She moved to rub her arms instead, looking uncomfortable. “If this persists… I fear we may have to dagger him alongside Rebekah to keep him from harming anyone.”</p><p>Davina looked shocked, and Alaric raised his brows. “I never thought I’d hear you say that,” he told her.</p><p>Hilda was clearly ashamed of having said it. “It’s not a pleasant thought. I hate the idea of those stupid daggers. But if we don’t do something, he’ll lose his mind, and if he hurts Davina or the girls or me, he’ll never forgive himself and it’ll make him become incredibly destructive. What we ought to try first is have Freya and Davina do a Cleansing Spell, that might work. I don’t know if it’ll be enough to bypass Ancestral magic but if they channel Nik and I…” she shook her head. “I ought to go speak with him.”</p><p>“Is that a good idea?” asked Alaric. “He’s already been getting really violent. What if he hurts you?”</p><p>“There’s not much he can do in terms of permanent damage. Better me than Davina, you know.”</p><p>Alaric sighed. “Look… I don’t think that’s a good idea, but if you think it’s what you need to do…”</p><p>“Stay with the girls,” said Hilda, putting one hand on his chest and patting it reassuringly. “I’ll be back soon.”</p><p>She made her way out of the house, expecting Kol had gone to St. Anne’s Church, since that’s where he was staying with Davina. Sure enough, she found him on one of the benches of Marcel’s fight gym, holding his head and stomping his foot anxiously on the ground. </p><p>“Go away, Hilly,” he spat when he heard her coming. “I don’t want company.”</p><p>“Kol, tell me the truth,” she prompted. “What’s wrong? Let me know how I can help you. I want to help you.”</p><p>“I am sick of everyone badgering me all the time!” he bellowed, speeding to her and slamming her back into a wall. He gripped her shoulders and shook her roughly. “You’re the one that’s supposed to understand me without needing to ask!”</p><p>Albeit afraid of how quickly things had gotten out of hand, she tried to remain gentle. “Sometimes, brother,” she managed, her voice cracking only slightly. “I believe asking is necessary. This isn’t normal, and I’m sure you know it. Someone has tampered with your mind.”</p><p>“The stupid bloody Ancestors,” he spat, releasing her and grabbing a nearby punching bag before throwing it across the room with a loud grunt. “They mess everything up. I don’t know what they want— they just choose to torment me because I’m a Mikaelson— that’s it! I hate our stupid family, I hate our stupid surname— I hate everything, Hilly, I want to be here but I can’t stand it.”</p><p>“You’re free to go,” she said, massaging her shoulder. “We’ve left before, Kol. In a few weeks, Alaric and I are going to Texas with the twins. You can go wherever you’d like. Please. Let Freya and Davina try a Cleansing Spell… I’ll write it out so that you know it’s good. It will help you relax.”</p><p>She thought he was going to let out another rageful yell, but he started to sob, sinking down and holding his head. “Everything is so loud,” he panted. “Nothing makes sense. I can’t stay calm, I can’t focus, all I can think about is blood. Every time I see her or your daughters or Alaric, I want to feed until they’re drained, until they’re dead. Davina most of all. She wants… she wants to be intimate and we did it once but I’m terrified of doing it again, I fear I’ll lose control, I’ll kill her or traumatize her and she’ll never be the same again. And if I take preventative measures and feed her my blood every day… if I accidentally kill her, she’ll lose all her magic and she’ll hate me forever. I hate this mind. I hate it, Hilly— why couldn’t we be normal? Why are we ill? Why do our own brains attack us and let us be so easily angered? It’s not fair. No one ever supported us until now and they think that’s sufficient? Perhaps I can forget my fury with Elijah and Niklaus but Finn— he murdered me. He <em>murdered</em> me… and as much as I want to remember that he used to play with us when we were little and he used to carry me on his shoulders so that I could climb trees and startle you or Bex… all I can think of is that he tore away months I could have been with Davina, with you. You had no one at your side, Hilly, and I can’t forgive him for that.”</p><p>Hilda came to sit alongside him, taking his hand and squeezing it. “I know I say I was alone, but I wasn’t. So if you’re to be angry at him, be angry at him only for what he did to you. Focus on what you need him to do so that you can find it in your heart to tolerate him, if that’s what you want. If you never want to forgive him, you don’t have to. But don’t flare up your anger by thinking about what he took from me. Focus on you. You, Kol, you deserve so much, and this world has taken your freedom and happiness way too many times. I won’t let it happen again, I swear it. I want to help you. Please, come back to the Compound, when they’re back, Freya will do the spell and we’ll focus on helping you feel better. I’ll talk to Finn, I’ll make him apologize, at the very least. What matters right now is that you tell me exactly what you need so that I can help you. Communicate. Davina and I will do anything we need to do, and I will ensure our siblings are supporting you accordingly, as well.”</p><p>Kol sniffled, leaning onto her shoulder, still trembling. “I need to be cured, Hilly,” he whispered. “I need… I need to be cleansed and I need to be cured of this mental illness that we’ve had for centuries. I need Finn to apologize so that I don’t feel so bloody angry around him. I need Davina to not… not be afraid of me, but how can I expect that of her if I’m not better first? I want to be a good partner to her, I want to be a good brother, a good uncle… even a good friend to Alaric. I shouldn’t have snapped at him.” He offered her his hand, using the other one to wipe his eyes. “We… we ought to go back.”</p><p>But before helping him to his feet, she pulled him into a tight hug. “We will get better, one day,” she whispered. “One day, we’ll feel healthy, no matter what goes on in our heads. We’re not weak or terrible because of our illness. We still have value and we have a chance to be happy. I will always be here for you, Kol. Always and Forever.”</p>
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<a name="section0060"><h2>60. Chapter 60</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>They returned to the Compound only to have to wait.</strong>
</p><p>Davina had left just after they returned, letting Kol know she was meeting with Josh. Kol had given her a gentle kiss after apologizing, and had gone to the dining room to have a meal. </p><p>Hilda had gone to where Alaric had already put the twins to bed.</p><p>“They’re so adorable when they’re asleep,” the Original sighed as she leaned over the bars of the cradle, looking at the twins’ faces. She reached a hand in to caress each little girl’s head. “Kol agreed to the cleansing. Freya texted me… they’re almost here. All we’ve got to do is wait. Hopefully Nik will be back soon.”</p><p>Alaric came to stand beside her. “And how are you? Do you feel… better?”</p><p>She shrugged. “I suppose I feel slightly improved. It’s a lot to get used to.”</p><p>“We can always stay longer than a few weeks, if you’d like. I really don’t mind. I won’t be starting work until the fall, and we can move everything in a week. The house is small and furniture can be moved in by hired workers.”</p><p>Hilda shook her head. “No, once the house is ready, we ought to go. Kol isn’t keen on staying, either, and he might feel better if he knows he’s not the only one straying away. We need the space. I love my siblings, and they can always visit, and we can always pop in here. But being crammed together all the time is not ideal. Especially not with the girls so young.”</p><p>Alaric drummed his fingers on the table. “Your family… they’ve improved.”</p><p>“Yes, they have. I can’t imagine how great the improvement must seem from your perspective.”</p><p>Alaric chuckled. “Well, first, we met your brother Elijah when he tried to take Elena… then Klaus possessed my body before showing his face… after the thing with Jenna we were just absolutely terrified. The Mikaelson name commands a lot of fear and grudging respect. Then Rebekah arrived… then you, Kol, and Finn. I swear, when I was first told about you all being woken up, I was certain I was going to watch everyone die before being killed. If all of you worked together to eliminate a common enemy… jeez, I’d feel bad for that enemy.”</p><p>Hilda grinned. “Yes, I expect so. I can imagine… if my parents were better people...we’d’ve been truly unstoppable. Esther, Freya, and even Dahlia with their magic… they alone could take over the world. Mikael, Finn, Elijah, Klaus, Kol, Rebekah, and I with our physical strength and wits… I sort of like the idea of being feared. Not in the sense that I relish in scaring people, but most will choose to stand with us because they know we’re the winning team when we’re not up against each other.”</p><p>“I admit… when Valerie told me that you were the one carrying the twins, I was terrified. But now… I feel grateful that it was you and not anyone else. Your sisters are good influences. And your brothers, they make a clear effort to set aside their anger to be gentle around the twins.”</p><p>She patted his arm with a small smile. “I’m glad you at least don’t mind us all being around them. I know we’re definitely some of the worst people on the planet, but… we all have soft sides. Even Finn, as you can see.”</p><p>It was around an hour later when they heard a commotion at the entrance.</p><p>Hilda sped down as Freya and Elijah struggled to carry Finn into the couch of the courtyard. “Don’t leave me in here!” yelled Finn, thrashing and looking completely crazed. “Don’t leave me alone!”</p><p>Freya dropped to his side as soon as Hilda took her place to help Elijah lower their eldest brother down. “Hey, hey, hey,” she said soothingly, stroking his head. “You’re not alone, Finn. I’m here.”</p><p>Finn let out a wheeze and grasped onto Hilda’s arm tightly, staring at her with wild, bloodshot eyes. “Don’t leave…”</p><p>“I’m not leaving, Finn,” said Hilda gently, patting his arm and making him loosen his grip slightly. “I’m right here. Let me just see the bite.” She took his other arm and tried not to grimace at the sight of the oozing wound. </p><p>“Don’t leave,” Finn repeated, putting more pressure on her wrist.</p><p>“Why is he talking like this?” asked Freya, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.</p><p>Elijah looked uncomfortably at Hilda. “It’s hallucinations of our betrayal. It’s his nightmare.”</p><p>They heard footsteps as Kol entered the room, plopping onto the opposite couch without so much as a second look at Finn. He couldn’t have been more unbothered. “Well, he looks awful,” he said blandly. “Werewolf bite— that’s got to hurt, mate. So, Lucien’s a bloody hybrid?”</p><p>“We don’t know what he is,” said Elijah. “His venom seems to work twice as fast.”</p><p>“That’s good,” said Freya optimistically. “Maybe it’ll work through his system twice as fast.”</p><p>Kol shrugged nonchalantly. “Or it’s twice as lethal,” he said, getting up. “Now, if Niklaus doesn’t get here in time, he might die. With a bit of luck…”</p><p>With flared anger, Freya shot up and whirled around, slapping Kol right in the face. “What is wrong with you?” she screamed.</p><p>The darke veins rose into Kol’s eyes and he lunged at Freya, but Hilda shot between them just before Kol managed to bite into their eldest sister’s neck. Had Hilda not been shorter, he would have bitten her instead. </p><p>“Behave yourselves!” snapped Elijah. “Both of you!”</p><p>Another pair of footsteps. “Sibling squabbling,” came Klaus’s voice. “How familiar. Although, the teams seem to have changed… Someone care to tell me why?”</p><p>“Our brother needs us,” said Elijah firmly. Hilda sank back down to support Finn’s neck as Klaus came forward, biting into his own wrist as the man on the couch wheezed painfully. The hybrid gave him his blood, and Hilda stroked his hair. </p><p>“Thank you, brother,” panted Finn as he stopped feeding, some color returning to his face.</p><p>“How are you feeling?” asked Freya. </p><p>“I feel… strangely euphoric,” whispered Finn.</p><p>Klaus smirked. “I’ve been known to have that effect.”</p><p>Kol started to clap slowly, mocking them. “What a precious family moment. Pardon me while I go and gouge out my eyes with a hot poker.”</p><p>“Kol,” said Hilda in a warning tone. </p><p>But Finn didn’t seem very bothered. “I thank even you, Kol,” he said. “Your little witch actually came through. Often… I forget how much you and Hilda know about magic.”</p><p>That wiped the smug look off of Kol’s face. He turned slightly pink, as if this comment had really surprised him. </p><p>“Today,” continued Finn gently. “I saw a glimpse of your coveted ‘Always and Forever.’” He patted Hilda’s arm before looking at Klaus. “And I—” He suddenly started to cough violently, throwing himself over the edge of the couch and spitting a pool of blood onto the floor.</p><p>“Finn!” yelled Klaus as Hilda tried to rub his back frantically.</p><p>“Finn— what’s happening?” said Elijah in panic as Finn continued to grunt in pain. “What’s wrong with him?”</p><p>“He should be better now,” muttered Hilda worriedly, flinching as Finn spat some more blood out, a few drops landing in her face. </p><p>“His body, it’s dying,” said Freya as Finn slumped back, still wheezing.</p><p>“No!” yelled Klaus. “No, it’s not possible— I cured him!”</p><p>“Freya,” panted Finn, clawing at her hand. “Hilly— p-please..”</p><p>“Try to focus on breathing,” said Hilda as calmly as she could, though on the inside, she felt like she was being torn apart from concern. “We’re going to fix you, alright? It might just be that you— you didn’t have enough…”</p><p>Freya looked up at her brothers, trying to come up with a solution. “Get my pendant.”</p><p>“It won’t work!” said Kol, looking greatly agitated. “Davina fused his soul to his body.”</p><p>“We’ve got to try!” cried Freya. “There’s no Other Side— no Ancestral well if he dies!”</p><p>“No,” said Klaus, holding his temples as he, too, tried to think. “Kol— get your bloody girlfriend back here to undo what she’s done! Finn, you will drink from the source until Freya can move you—” he made to bite into his wrist, but Finn yelled out.</p><p>“NO!” he rasped as loud as he could. “Don’t leave me alone! Hilly— Freya— where have you gone?!”</p><p>“Finn,” said Freya, taking his free hand and squeezing it tightly. “I’m here, brother. Hilda’s here, and so is Elijah, and Kol, and Klaus…” Attempting to make contact, Kol and Elijah placed their hands on each of Finn’s legs while Klaus switched with Hilda, who moved to stroke Finn’s hair again, trying to soothe him as he started to sob. “Please…”</p><p>“You are not alone,” said Freya, her eyes glistening with tears and her body trembling. “I am here. I am here with you. Okay? I’m with you.”</p><p>“Finn,” whispered Hilda as he closed his eyes. “Finn… we’ve got you…”</p><p>His hold on Klaus and Freya’s hands loosened. His skin began to turn grey, veins rising up as he desiccated completely, causing Freya to break into sobs, each of the siblings now crying. Kol turned away, as if not wanting them to see that he, too, had gotten emotional.</p><p>Hilda sniffled and gulped back a whimper as Freya pulled her into an almost bone crushing hug, wailing and still holding onto Finn’s hand, as though she was afraid to let go. She didn’t until his body suddenly caught on fire, making all the siblings jump back, watching with pained looks as their brother turned into nothing but ash.</p><p>Klaus had acquired an urn from upstairs to place to put the ashes inside of. It was silver, and engraved on it was the letter ‘M’ for Mikaelson. Freya took the urn once it was filled, and she cradled it to her chest, pressing a kiss on the lid, her face now blotchy. “We ought to… to spread these ashes somewhere,” she whispered. “He wouldn’t have wanted to be in a jar for all time…”</p><p>“The docks,” mumbled Hilda, her arm now around Kol, who looked numb. “He loved to swim when we were young. He taught Kol and I how…”</p><p>They made their way to the docks along the Mississippi River. Wrapped in coats, the five siblings went up against the railing, with Elijah taking the urn first. “You fought against what time and circumstance made you,” he whispered. “You’re free, now, Finn.” He scooped a handful of ashes and tossed them into the water before passing the urn to Kol.</p><p>“I loathed you for centuries,” Kol muttered. “Even now, it remains unabated. But… I know torment, brother. So, I hope you somehow find peace in the abyss.” He made to take some of the ashes, but he cast Hilda a look, then turned back to the urn. Swallowing hard, he looked up at the sky. “And I… I forgive you, Finn. A part of me can understand what you did. I would have done the same to you. I don’t want to hold this grudge forever.” He raised his hand and let the ashes fall into the river below.</p><p>Hilda took the urn carefully in her hands, digging in and taking a small clump for herself. “It really does hurt me that my daughters will never get to know you. You, who taught me so many things. I wish there was more we could have done together, Finn. Thank you, for being the first one who didn’t judge me for wanting to keep this curse to myself rather than pass it on.” She released the ashes before passing the urn to Freya.</p><p>“When you were born,” said Freya shakily, “you gave me a gift— you were my first friend. Today, you gifted me my life…” she sobbed even harder than she already was, and Hilda rubbed her back. “And my siblings united… even if for a moment. I love you.” She tossed the ashes out. “Always and Forever, brother. ‘Til forever ends.”</p><p>Klaus took the urn, picking up his handful, finding that he didn’t know what to say. “Just know,” he mumbled, “that you will be avenged.” He let the ashes in his hand fall, then flipped the urn upside down to spread the rest. The siblings were silent for a moment, watching every last bit fall into the water and be carried out of sight.</p><p>They found that Alaric had made them tea and coffee in the time they’d been gone, and had prepared several bottles of alcohol for those who needed something stronger. He had also lit a fire for them, and had the twins dozing off in their carriers not far from it, so that they would be warm but not scorching.</p><p>There was a silent appreciation for him as they took it in the upstairs living room. Freya grabbed a cup of tea first, but the instant she was finished, fueled up with bourbon. Kol and Hilda took coffee, while Elijah and Klaus went straight for the alcohol.</p><p>Hilda sat beside Alaric, half-smiling and leaning back in the couch. “I can go if you’d like,” he whispered.</p><p>“No, don’t,” she said instantly. “Stay. The twins are undisturbed here, and we can supervise them together. I think their presence helps…”</p><p>“I’m sorry for your loss,” said Alaric, a bit louder just for anyone who was listening. “Really…”</p><p>“Thank you,” sniffled Freya, wiping several tears away before taking another sip of bourbon.</p><p>Klaus was by the fireplace, staring into it pensively. “Lucien did all of this to become like his maker,” he muttered aloud. “And yet… my bite cannot kill an Original. What are we up against here?”</p><p>“I truly don’t know,” said Elijah quietly.</p><p>“I might,” came Hayley’s voice as she walked in with a sleeping Hope laying on her chest. “Klaus and I found Lucien’s R&amp;D lab full of werewolves. He’s harvesting venom, but not to find a cure. He's trying to create a more lethal strain.”</p><p>“Well, that must be what he added to the spell to make him whatever the hell he is now,” said Freya venomously. “He kept boasting about having something that would make him better than an Original.”</p><p>“Klaus is descended from one of the seven original wolf bloodlines,” stated Hayley. “I am descended from another. Lucien's venom... is derived from all seven packs.”</p><p>Hilda and Kol both tensed. “Giving him a bite that not even I can cure,” said Klaus in understanding.</p><p>“There were two vials of serum, and he only drank one,” said Freya. “Maybe it's because the spell will wear off eventually and he'll need another dose?”</p><p>“That would make no sense,” said Kol. “The spell has to have been too strong for that. He made that for someone else.”</p><p>Klaus turned to them, looking horrified. “Aurora.” He and Elijah shared a look before speeding out.</p><p>“That was not a good time to remind us all that he let her live,” said Hayley dejectedly as she came to sit on the other side of Kol. He offered her a wince and patted Hope’s back affectionately.</p><p>“I best be off,” he said, standing up. “I’ve got to speak to Davina about this.”</p><p>“Goodnight,” said Hilda quietly as he walked out. Freya gave a sniffle and lay back on the couch. Hayley grimaced. “I need to put Hope to sleep.”</p><p>“Go rest, you’ve got to be exhausted after the drive,” said Hilda, causing the younger hybrid to nod and leave the room. The Original moved to sit beside her sister, bringing her head onto her lap so that she could caress her hair.</p><p>“I don’t understand why this had to happen,” whispered Freya. “Why… why Finn…”</p><p>“Lucien must have been planning this for ages,” muttered Hilda. “I don’t think he chose Finn as a target.”</p><p>“He would have bitten Elijah…” she straightened up. “Hilda… I think it’s time for you to go. Get out of the city, take Kol with you. Lucien will stop at nothing to eliminate us.”</p><p>“I don’t know,” said Alaric before Hilda could answer. “I mean… you all had to drive back, but you texted Hilda saying Lucien left faster than the Originals can even move. He could have caught Hilda or Kol anywhere here. Lured them out quickly.”</p><p>“He’s obviously biding his time,” said Freya a bit irritably. “He intends to kill all of us, not just Elijah and Klaus.”</p><p>“No, he’s got a point,” said Hilda, furrowing her eyebrows. “Lucien must have spies all over the city if he’s been plotting a move this big. He’d’ve known that Kol and I were in St. Anne’s not long ago… by the time he was back.”</p><p>“Hilda, are you seriously going to believe he intended to take us down all in one day? Not even he would do that. No, he wants us to suffer at least several hours before making another move.”</p><p>“Tristan.”</p><p>The two sisters looked at Alaric. “Tristan got you immunity,” he said, one hand rubbing the back of his head. “Hilda— Lucien knows you have no sirelings and that you would never try to make any, he knows you’re a mother now, and if they were in on it, Tristan took a fall that benefitted Lucien greatly. I’m willing to bet that the reason the prophecy didn’t mention you was because Lucien has no intentions of hurting you. Why would he? It’d be his way of getting even with Tristan. He still gets what he wants. He had several chances and he hasn’t even spoken directly to you. He’s leaving you out of it.”</p><p>“Even if that’s true, he’s still coming after everyone else,” said Freya, shaking her head. “And if Lucien is sparing Hilda, Aurora will in no way be so kind if—”</p><p>“It’s not a matter of ‘if,’ sister,” said Klaus gravely as he and Elijah walked back in. “It’s <em>when</em>. She’s gone.”</p><p>Hilda opened her mouth, but Klaus pointed at her and snapped. “Don’t you dare say that I should have killed her, I know it.”</p><p>“I wasn’t going to say that,” said Hilda. “I was going to say a curse word, actually. What do we do, Nik?”</p><p>Klaus started to pace a bit before looking at her and Freya. “The both of you need to work on any spell you can find that will contain them. If what Alaric says is true, then you are to stay confined in this Compound, Hilly, I won’t tolerate you going outside. Lucien may think to spare you but we will not take any chances. Devote yourself to spellwork and that’s all.” </p><p>“What?” exclaimed Hilda. “You want me to just burrow myself in here as if Lucien didn’t just kill our brother? If there’s going to be a battle—”</p><p>“For once in your bloody life, back down!” snapped Klaus, his eyes wide. “His ire is with Elijah and I, not any of you. I will not stand to lose the rest of my siblings. You appear to be safe for now, take advantage of that." He faced his other sister. "Freya, I ask you to leave as little as possible— werewolf venom will not harm you, but he is still strong, though your magic can help you in the event that you are cornered.” He rubbed his chin, still looking intently at his siblings and ignoring the very concerned look on Alaric's face. “Just— get to work. Figure something out.”</p><p>And so went a sleepless night.</p><p>While Alaric, the twins, Hayley, and Hope all rested snug in their beds, Freya and Hilda were at it. Klaus often popped in to check their progress, but when he wasn’t in the room, he was off talking with Elijah, who didn’t seem to be able to sleep. The two sisters were going through grimoire after grimoire. Hilda was calling several of her contacts to find out who knew useful information. It was of little use— any Coven who might’ve practiced magic dark enough to counter Lucien was extinct or too difficult to trace in a single day.</p><p>It was the early hours of the morning when Klaus entered the room again, and this time, he didn’t leave. He paced and peered over their shoulders as they made a rough draft of the only spell they thought might work against Lucien. </p><p>“You’re hovering,” said Freya pointedly.</p><p>“I’m supervising,” muttered Klaus. “How else to speed up your endeavors? Let's see. Perhaps I should bring Vincent here? Force him to aid you by removing his legs?”</p><p>Hilda shot him a nasty look. “Vincent’s been through enough, and he hasn’t the faintest idea for how to kill Lucien, either. And if he leaves St. James, he’ll be a threat, too.”</p><p>Elijah strolled in through the doorway. “The Ancestors are thoroughly occupied, according to Davina, terrorizing our brother,” he said, holding up his phone. “She’s only just informed me of what you learned yesterday. She will take Kol to be with Vincent for the day to lessen the influence of magic, but if our brother leaves, then he, too, will be a problem.”</p><p>“Another day, another witch-inspired vendetta,” said Klaus snidely.</p><p>“Let us focus our energies on Lucien,” suggested Elijah. “How do we demolish that rodent?”</p><p>Freya sighed. “We’re working on it.”</p><p>“Yes!” said Klaus with a more upbeat attitude, as if he had an idea. “While we all have our roles to play, Elijah can stay here and oversee whatever Freya is doing. <em>I'm</em> going to actually accomplish something.”</p><p>Elijah stopped him from walking out the door. “Brother, accomplishing something—”</p><p>“The time for talking is done!” snapped Klaus before brushing past him.</p><p>Freya and Hilda shared a worried look before getting back to work, hoping that their spell would be of some use.</p>
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<a name="section0061"><h2>61. Chapter 61</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <strong>Alaric came to check on them about an hour after Klaus left.</strong>
</p><p>“How are things going in here?” he said, hoping that he wasn’t bothering them.</p><p>“As well as can be expected,” sighed Hilda. “Anything interesting happen on your end?”</p><p>“The twins refused their bottles for the first time. Otherwise… well, same old. Damon’s still desiccated, Elena’s still asleep, and Stefan and Caroline are still running. There’s not much to report, to be honest. We just have to wait and hope this Rayna Cruz problem is eliminated. I have to admit… now that Damon’s not part of it, I feel less worried. They can handle themselves. The Heretics have each other and Stefan and Caroline will back each other up, too. I’m glad Damon’s safe, even if it’s sad to know that he didn’t actually say goodbye.”</p><p>Hilda winced and patted his shoulder before going back to the charcoal that she and Freya were using to sketch the spell. “I promise, we’ll figure something out. Rayna Cruz can’t live forever.”</p><p>Elijah walked in, making them all face him. “We are out of time,” he said impatiently. “What do you have prepared?”</p><p>Freya gulped. “Well… A sigil is a complicated magical symbol, weaponized and condensed to its most potent form. If we combine the right elements, we'll have a chance at stopping Lucien, and if we don't…”</p><p>Just then, there was the sound of panicked knocking downstairs. The four adults shared a look before going down, and seeing Hayley was already there to greet a frantic Cami. “It’s Klaus,” said Cami, her eyes wide. “Lucien has him!”</p><p>“Freya!” called Hayley as the eldest Mikaelson jogged up. “Invite her in!”</p><p>“Yeah, come in, you’re invited,” said Freya immediately as Elijah beckoned Cami over the threshold to sit in the courtyard. “Tell us what happened,” he prompted.</p><p>“Lucien ambushed him,” the blonde said. “He knocked him around like it was nothing.”</p><p>“Did he bite him?” asked Hilda immediately. </p><p>Cami shook her head. “No. I think he wanted him alive. I followed them. Lucien took Klaus back to the penthouse.”</p><p>Elijah’s phone buzzed, and he paused to look down at it, before looking up with a grave expression. “Lucien is demanding my presence at the Whiskey Cask— alone and immediately. He says if I delay, Niklaus will die.”</p><p>“I think the sigil has to be ready,” said Freya, leaping to her feet. “I’ll come with you— cloaked.”</p><p>“Freya—” began Elijah.</p><p>“No, you don’t get to tell me I can’t go,” she snapped. “I lost one brother already, and I’m the one who can do the magic, I have to go.”</p><p>She sprinted up the stairs, and Elijah faced Hilda. “Stay here,” he demanded. “Tend to children, continue to work on a spell. If you find anything of use, let Freya know.” He looked back up as Freya ran back with a bag of herbs, offering her hand to Elijah, who took it and sped her away.</p><p>“That’s it?” said Cami, still looking overwhelmed. “How— how do we know that Klaus is going to be okay?”</p><p>“We’re going to make sure of it,” said Hayley, standing up. “Come with me, Cami, I have an idea.”</p><p>Hilda let out a loud huff as the two women sped away. “So I’m just a sitting duck here?”</p><p>“I know it’s not ideal,” said Alaric gently. “But they’re right. You’re in danger.”</p><p>“He’s my brother!” she cried. “Kol’s in trouble, too, and I’m expected to sit here like a porcelain doll? Hayley is putting herself in danger and she can die far more easily. What happens if Lucien bites Nik and kills Hayley? Who will Hope have then?”</p><p>Alaric put his hands on her shoulders. “Hilda, you know that ultimately it’s your decision, right? I just… really worry. All of you could die and maybe it’s selfish of me to hope that if someone has to die, it’s not you. Our daughters need you. Hope needs you. I need you. Kol needs you. If you just stay here, you can be like— like the secret weapon.”</p><p>She glared at him at first before looking down shamefully. “I’m not used to them protecting me,” she said softly. “They always had me jump into helping them. And last time, it was too much. I was dealing with your loss and Kol’s and I was tossed back into conflict. Then when Kol died the second time, they expected so much of me and like an idiot, I went along with it. Now… I think they’re terrified that if they let me get into a fight, I’ll break down and if I survive, I’ll be too messed up to be a good mother.” She moved away from his hold. “I’m just… gonna go with the girls. I don’t want to feel useless.”</p><p>She sped off, going to Hope’s room first to get her before going to where the twins were sleeping again. Hope was more then happy to get a new place to play in, and started to run around, squealing and talking to the twins as if they could understand her. Hilda took the two little girls and set them on the bed before using a fluffy blanket to make a lower sitting area for her to sit with them laying beside her, near enough to the ground to supervise Hope properly.</p><p>Hope called it a picnic. She got some of the plastic teacups that Freya had bought for her when she saw she liked one of the teacups she owned for spells. She poured ‘tea’ into each cup, setting the two smallest cups for the twins. When Alaric came in, she giggled and gave him his own cup, using the little plates to serve them ‘toast.’</p><p>“Wow, you learned from the best chefs in New Orleans,” praised Alaric, making Hope giggle and curtsy. </p><p>“Just wait til she tries beignets,” said Hilda with a small smile. “She’ll learn to make some really good ones.”</p><p>“Nets?” asked Hope, making a face.</p><p>“Beignets, darling,” corrected Hilda. “You haven’t tried them yet, they’ve got a lot of sugar and your mama and papa don’t want to introduce you to that until you’re older.”</p><p>Hope seemed to understand, but pointed at the twins to clarify. “No nets?”</p><p>“No, they don’t even have teeth yet,” said Alaric. “They can’t eat any toast or beignets, but they will soon.”</p><p>Scrunching up her nose, Hope pulled the plates of ‘toast’ away from the twins, and gave them more ‘tea’ instead. </p><p>Hilda’s phone began to ring, and she propped it up on her knees. “Hello, Davina,” she answered. “How are things?”</p><p>“My name is <em>not</em> Davina, but thank you,” came Kol’s voice, making Hope giggle.</p><p>Hilda grinned. “Well, brother, you must forgive me, then. I think Hope might be delighted to call you Davina, though.”</p><p>“Vina!” cried Hope helpfully, causing Kol to laugh. </p><p>“The St. James is incredible,” he said. “Seriously, Hilly, we should have thought of this ages ago. A place neutral to magic… but, I suppose we had no idea that a place like that would ever be useful. Imagine if we’d started this and kept refreshing it over centuries… no magic could ever penetrate these walls.”</p><p>“I assume this means you’re feeling better?”</p><p>“I feel fucking amazing—”</p><p>“Fucking,” repeated Hope, making Alaric and Hilda’s eyes widen. </p><p>“No, no, no— don’t say that,” said Alaric immediately. “That’s not a word to use right now, you’re too little—”</p><p>Hilda held her arm out to stop him when Hope started to giggle, thinking it was funny that he got so worried. “Princess,” she told her, taking her shoulders and looking at her seriously. “Tell me this, do you know what that word means?”</p><p>Hope shook her head. Hilda ran her tongue over her own lips before saying, “How about, we don’t use words whose meanings we don’t know? We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, right?”</p><p>Hope nodded. “Okay,” she said, looking down at the phone. “Bad Uncle Kol.”</p><p>This made him laugh. “I’m sorry, darling, I won’t do it again. But I do feel really good, Hilly. All the hunger just died down. Vincent and I spoke— he’s going to try to figure out what the Ancestors are trying to accomplish by coming after me. He reckons the Ancestors see Lucien as a weapon of sorts to eliminate our family and in turn, our sirelings, though that’ll be harder for Nik now that he’s unlinked, and after Finn and I both died twice, we have no sirelings, similarly to you. He’s gone to the Cemetery to work some things out, but Davina’s keeping my company here.”</p><p>“Hopefully he manages something,” sighed Hilda, glad that Hope now had completely forgotten the word ‘fucking’ and was having a grand time babbling to the twins about her teacups. “If there’s anything you need, please tell me.”</p><p>“I feel better knowing you’re safe in the Compound, Hilly, with the girls. I’ll let you know if anything happens, I promise. I’ll speak with you later, alright? Davina wants to dance again.”</p><p>Hilda smiled. “Alright, brother, stay safe.” When he hung up, she leaned back against the wall and looked down at the twins, who were wide-eyed and watching Hope dance around for their entertainment. </p><p>“Ballerina!” she giggled. “Dancing, dancing.”</p><p>“Your Aunt Bex and I tried to be ballerinas once,” said Hilda, picking Josie up so that she could see better, while Alaric did the same with Lizzie. “We signed up to learn at this Russian school and we were very bad at it. Bex was better than I was. Maybe, when you’re a bit older, we can sign you up for lessons. I bet you’ll fly right through the pre-pointe class and be in pointe shoes in no time.”</p><p>“Jo and Liz, dance?” asked Hope.</p><p>“Maybe they’ll want to dance, too, once they see you doing it,” said Alaric as Lizzie gurgled. “I think that means ‘yes.’ Or maybe all of you can try different sports in different seasons when you’re not at school.”</p><p>Hope giggled. “No school for me!”</p><p>“Yes, you have to go to school,” said Hilda. “I can’t say I love the average curriculum nowadays… they don’t seem to teach anything useful… but you have to study to learn lots of things. You need specific schooling to learn magic and art. Dance lessons are technically indicative of a dance school. It’s not how it is portrayed in those cartoons you watch. It can be more fun, as long as you go to the right place.”</p><p>“When you all get to high school,” said Alaric when Hope sat down to pat Josie’s feet and make them move a bit as if she was walking, “your Aunt Hilda can teach you Chemistry— she’s good at it.”</p><p>“Then you can teach them History,” chimed in Hilda, causing Alaric to smile. The two shared a look before turning away from each other, a light blush dusting both their features.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>Freya and Elijah had come back not long afterward, letting them know the sigil hadn’t worked, and they’d had to get away to avoid being bitten. Hayley and Cami had come with Klaus and Aurora, who had been placed in a Sleeping Spell by Freya.</p><p>Cami and Klaus had gone off to talk, and Hilda had elected not to disturb them, instead choosing to let Hayley know of the earlier incident with Kol and Hope just so that she could be aware. Elijah and Freya had gotten to their own conversation, and Hilda had paced her room, wondering if she ought to try and call Davina to check on Kol.</p><p>Instead, he had called her.</p><p>“Hilly,” he panted on the other line. “I’ve got to go.”</p><p>“Kol, what happened?” she asked instantly, tensing and making her way to the door. “Where’s Davina?”</p><p>“With Vincent— she left me her phone to call you. The Ancestors— they were breaking through the spell here and they had to stop it. I almost lost control— Marcel— he stopped me. I have to go, Hilly, I’ve got to leave the city to have their grip on me be loosened.”</p><p>Hilda started to breathe heavily. “Do you want me to meet you? I can get a car and go find you and help take you away from the city—”</p><p>“No, I just need you to know. I’ll be alright, Hilly, I can’t dally, I have to get out as soon as I can. I promise, I’ll tell you when I get somewhere safe.”</p><p>She bit her lip. “Are you sure? I can go to your aid, Kol, I can…”</p><p>“No, sister, it’s not safe. I’m a hazard to everyone, no matter how much I care for them. Please, tell our siblings, and await my call. Once all is well, I will let you know, I promise.”</p><p>But the problem had been that though Kol tried to leave, he couldn’t. Yet, rather than let his sister know that he had been unable to leave the borders of New Orleans, he had kept it a secret, and in the frenzy that arose the following morning, Hilda had not managed to find the time to contact him.</p><p>“Get her in here!” Hilda shrieked as Klaus pulled Cami into the living room. She was pale and looked dizzy, a bite from Lucien oozing on her arm. They sat her down at first, and Hayley came to stand in front of her, calling her name, but Cami couldn’t hear her at first.</p><p>“Yeah,” she mumbled softly after Hayley asked if she was alright. “Considering…”</p><p>Freya came rushing in with a cloth and an open jar. “Hold still,” she told her. “This is going to burn.” Klaus sat beside the blonde and held her arm as Freya set the cloth down. Cami immediately let out a cry of pain, her eyes watering. “Ow— ow— what is that?”</p><p>“A healing salve,” said Hilda as Freya continued to dab the cloth down. “Motherwort and white willow bark. A thousand year old recipe.”</p><p>Cami let out a weak chuckle. “So… the good stuff, huh?”</p><p>“It will ease the pain, dull the symptoms, but it won’t stop the infection,” said Freya gravely.</p><p>“So I’m screwed?” asked Cami.</p><p>“No you’re not,” Hilda shot out. “You’re going to be just fine— we’re going to do everything we can, I promise you—”</p><p>“To that end,” said Elijah, leading Vincent Griffith into the room. “A little assistance.”</p><p>“Cami,” said Vincent, causing Klaus to stand up angrily. “I’m so sorry—”</p><p>“You should be!” growled the hybrid. “This is your fault. It was you who turned Lucien into a beast.” It took the combined efforts of Elijah, Hayley, and Hilda to keep Klaus from tearing through Vincent’s throat.</p><p>“Klaus, stop!” begged Cami. “It’s not his fault.”</p><p>“Cami’s right,” agreed Hayley. “We all need to work together to fix this.”</p><p>Hilda had never seen Klaus look so distraught. “I think I know how to fix it,” he said pensively. “Lucien has always been obsessed with me, he made himself like me… my bite is cured by my blood.”</p><p>“Do you think his blood can save her?” whispered Hilda.</p><p>“It makes sense,” stated Elijah. “Lucien would want that power.”</p><p>“Allowing him to Lord himself over his victims,” added Klaus.</p><p>Vincent clasped his hands together. “Okay, so we got a working theory, now we gotta test it.”</p><p>Cami gulped lightly. “Lucien's blood is all over my apartment, I sliced him all to hell before I ran.”</p><p>Vincent nodded. “Okay, I got this one, Lucien's got no reason to be on the lookout for me.” He ran out the door, and Hayley rubbed her temples. “Maybe we hedge our bets. Hope is a Mikaelson witch who carries the wolf gene, we already know that she's got healing powers.”</p><p>Hilda, wanting to be realistic, was tempted to say that this would be of no help. Hope had healing powers, yes, but she only had the blood of two werewolf bloodlines. “It’s worth a try,” said Freya, though she noticed the skeptical look on Hilda’s face.</p><p>Hayley jogged off into the other room, and Freya let out a sigh, facing her sister. “We ought to be thankful that for once, Hope’s had a chance to be here with us and not in the Bayou. With you and Alaric already watching over your twins… she’s safe if she’s nearby.”</p><p>Hilda nodded and looked down at Cami’s bite, examining it closely. “I think I know some healing spells that’ll slow the infection, but you’ll need to channel me, Freya, because we haven’t got the time to get the right ingredients so it’ll need to be simplified and anchored on more power.”</p><p>She dashed to her room, frantically finding any parchment she could before going back to where Cami was being helped up by Klaus, who was taking her to one of the bedrooms so that she could lay back more comfortably. Hayley dashed in with a small bit of Hope’s blood and handed it to Freya, who did a spell to amplify the amount before giving it back to the hybrid to take to Klaus. There were a tense few minutes where Hilda could hear only Cami’s breathing, but within seconds, it was evident that the blood had done nothing.</p><p>“We need werewolves,” muttered Hilda as she began to scribble. “One from each pack, I’m sure I know a spell that’ll whip up an antidote, but how on Earth will we find them? Nik is from the North East Atlantic Pack, Hayley from the Crescents… I don’t know if Tyler Lockwood would be willing to help us and either way I don’t know if it will be of any use— what if he’s related to one of them, distantly? We need someone from Deep Water, BasRoq, Poldark, Paxon, and Malraux… but the last two are incredibly rare and I never associated with werewolves, so I don’t know any, and my witch contacts don’t speak with them, either. Damn it… damn it…”</p><p>“Hilda, breathe,” urged Freya as she started to try another herbal mixture. “Focus on the spell.”</p><p>“How can I focus?” she hissed, still trying to write frantically. “She won’t last as long as Finn, that’s the truth! Finn lasted several hours without remedies, but only because he was an Original— he still died in the end. And what if what we’re doing is only making it worse? The Ancestors could have taken preventative measures far beyond what we understand— look what happened with the sigil!”</p><p>There was a knocking sound below, and Hilda grabbed Freya’s arm before speeding her down to where Vincent had returned, accompanied by Marcel, who was unable to cross the threshold. “Come in, come in,” said Freya quickly as Vincent thrust a bowl of Lucien’s blood into Freya’s waiting hands.</p><p>“How is she?” he asked as the four made their way back upstairs.</p><p>Freya pursed her lips. “Let’s just hope this works.” They went into the study, and through the hallway to the bedroom where Cami was. “Here, drink this.”</p><p>Klaus held her steady as she drank, and the group looked anxiously at her, waiting for her to begin to heal. But to their immense shock, all that happened was that she doubled over and began to wheeze, the bite oozing just as bad as before.</p><p>“She’s getting worse,” said Freya gravely after another half hour of waiting and searching. By then, Klaus had gone into Cami’s head so that she could sleep and not feel any pain, but Hilda feared that this might only make it worse— her body would be relaxed and the infection would spread through her easier, due to its magical nature.</p><p>“Okay, then,” said Vincent, arms outstretched as if trying to flood ideas into his mind. “We… we gotta try something else. Marcel? The Strix. You mean to tell me they can't help with this?”</p><p>Marcel shook his head. “The Strix don't have a solution for something that's never existed before.”</p><p>“Lucien engineered a pure strain of wolf venom, designed to kill even an Original,” murmured Freya. “It may be that there is no cure.”</p><p>“There has to be a cure, everything has to have a loophole,” said Hilda. “But the matter has to do with the different venoms. Bloody fucking hell— why can’t every werewolf just have the same venom? They all practically have the same powers now, so why did it have to change? Why was this even possible? Nothing has worked. Not Hope’s blood, not Lucien’s blood, not the herbal remedies. We can try the spell I wrote but honestly, I don’t think there’s going to be a chance to slow it down anymore.”</p><p>“Try the spell,” said Marcel. “You have to at least try it.”</p><p>And so they did. Freya held onto her sister’s hand and chanted over Cami’s body, with Klaus still holding on and still in her mind. </p><p>But there was no saving her. </p><p>“Freya, we gotta do something else,” said Vincent, holding his head as they checked on Cami and saw a rash had spread over her skin. “Another healing spell. Or— better yet— put her soul in that damn pendant. It worked for Finn.”</p><p>Freya shook her head. “Dahlia crafted the pendant, it will only work for our family. I could put her soul in another body…?”</p><p>“No,” sighed Vincent. “She’d have to  agree for the transfer to hold and she wouldn't do that to an innocent person. Not even to save herself.”</p><p>“Well, let’s worry about that later!” snapped Hilda. “I’m sure she’d rather live!”</p><p>“We cannot deny her the dignity of choice,” said Elijah gravely. “Camille lived with grace, she will have it now.”</p><p>They all turned to where Cami and Klaus’s hands were still linked. “They must be talking it out,” whispered Freya. “He has to have suggested it. I can look in and see what they’re speaking about, but he knows her well. If she wanted it, I expect he’d have exited her mind to tell us. Elijah and Vincent are unfortunately right… she would never want to take over another’s body. It would kill her more to know she was taking over someone else.”</p><p>Hilda sighed loudly. “I don’t want to accept that, Freya. She’s going to <em>die</em>.” She started to tear up, looking away. “I c-can’t just watch her d-die… I’ve seen too many p-people die…”</p><p>Elijah put his hand on her shoulder. “I know….”</p><p>She turned around and buried her face into his chest, sobbing and hanging on, not wanting to think of the fact that they had failed. They had tried so hard and nothing had proven successful. Even with all the power they had and all their experience, they had no say in helping Cami live.</p><p>The moment she ceased to breathe, every vampire in the house felt it.</p><p>They had gone downstairs to let Klaus and Cami have the rest of their time together. Like a family in a waiting room at the hospital, they remained close to each other, but said nothing. Hilda and Alaric each held one of the babies in their arms, letting them sleep after they had had their diapers changed and had been fed. Hayley cradled Hope, who was also napping. Elijah stood behind her, while Vincent and Marcel remained beside each other, not wanting to look at anyone.</p><p>They all heard Cami’s final exhale. They’d been listening to the heartbeats upstairs. The stronger one, they ignored— that was Klaus. They had fixated on the weaker one, and when the beating had slowed down, they’d all tensed. They heard it stop, then heard a soft breath. There was a moment of silence before they heard Klaus let out a sob upstairs. </p><p>Footsteps sounded, and they all sat up, watching Davina rush in. “Marcel?” she whispered, tears filling her eyes at the realization that she was too late.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0062"><h2>62. Chapter 62</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda wasn’t sure how much pain she could handle in such a short timespan.</strong>
</p><p>After they had all watched Marcel take Davina into his arms, they had gone to say their goodbyes. Hayley had been first, and Vincent had followed in order to bless Cami to help her be at peace. Davina and Marcel had gone up together while Freya and Hilda waited.</p><p>Davina had come out in a massive flood of tears, and Hilda pulled her into a hug before she moved upstairs and into the room where Cami’s body lay. </p><p>“Oh, Cami,” said the Original, trying not to burst into tears again. She held the blonde’s desiccated hand. “I’m so sorry…” she couldn’t help herself, and with a whimper, covered her face with her shirt and sobbed. “I-I wish… I wish there was m-more I could have done… I’m so sorry, darling, you never should have gotten caught in the crossfire… I… I hate that Hope and the twins won’t get to know you…” She brought her hand up and kissed it. “I thank you, Camille, for making my brother a b-better person. I hope that you find peace.”</p><p>She dipped down to kiss her forehead with her trembling limps, caressing her hair before sniffling and going to her room, where Alaric waited for her with the twins, knowing she would want to hold them for comfort.</p><p>Hilda cast him a grateful look through her tears and took Josie, holding her close and shuddering at the thought of Cami being dead. This couldn’t be real. She didn’t want to think of how Klaus must be feeling at the moment. </p><p>“I should go check on my brother,” she murmured, rubbing Josie’s back. “I—”</p><p>Suddenly, the entire house started to shake violently, and Alaric lunged forward, pulling her close and moving his head to shield both of the babies as he yanked her into the doorway between the adjoining rooms. Hilda immediately grabbed hold of them and sped them into the courtyard where nothing could fall on them. By the time the shaking stopped, her siblings had come out, followed by Marcel, who was still here. Davina appeared to have left already.</p><p>“What the hell was that?” said Freya, looking nervous.</p><p>“Just an earthquake, I reckon,” said Hayley, clutching Hope tightly as she stepped out beside Hilda.</p><p>The Original frowned, shaking her head. “That wasn’t normal,” she said quietly. “That was magical.”</p><p>“What?” Marcel cast her an incredulous look as she handed Josie to Alaric and moved to the ground, pressing her palm over the floor. </p><p>“I feel a magical energy,” she mused. “Long ago, a Coven that practiced Ancestral magic taught Kol and I what to focus on when trying to find out of a disaster was naturally occurring or magical. They told us how often, in a place that practices Ancestral magic, there is more susceptibility to earthquakes caused by magic because that’s where witches draw their magic from… what lingers from those who walked there before them. It’s hard to explain, but I swear, this was caused by magic.”</p><p>Elijah frowned. “What could have happened? A massive spell? The last time I saw this happen, it was when Davina had too much magic inside of her… before the Harvest ritual was completed.”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “There was a release of magic. I bet it has something to do with Lucien. The Ancestors are doing something. I—” her phone began to ring and she was it was Davina. “Maybe Davina knows,” said Hilda, bringing the device to her ear. “Hello?”</p><p>“H-Hilly…”</p><p>She went rigid. “Kol?” she exclaimed. “What happened? I thought you left the city! How are you calling on Davina’s phone?”</p><p>“I-I never m-meant… I d-didn’t… I’m s-so sorry…”</p><p>“Kol!” Hilda cried out, her body beginning to tremble. She sounded more alarmed this time. “Tell me what happened…”</p><p>“I… I k-killed her… p-please… I n-need you…”</p><p>She sped away from the Compound before he could finish speaking. Marcel followed closely behind, having heard exactly what Kol said.</p><p>They found him cradling Davina, the two of them covered in blood. The young witch had no heartbeat and she wasn’t breathing. Her neck hung limply off to the side, revealing a massive gash where Kol had fed from her until she died. Her eyes were ajar and Kol was stroking her hair shakily, the phone on the floor beside him.</p><p>Marcel stared in shock, looking like he might collapse any second. “What are you doing here?” he said darkly as Kol sniffled at the sight of Hilda.</p><p>“T-The Ancestors had a h-hold of m-me,” he stammered as Marcel dipped down to caress Davina’s face as Kol got up and moved toward his sister, who pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. “I-I was out of my h-head… I never w-would’ve h-hurt her… I tried to m-make it s-stop… I m-made her d-dagger me… nothing worked!”</p><p>The instant Hilda moved back, Marcel sped forward and sent Kol flying across the room. “Stop it!” screamed Hilda, diving in front of him. “It wasn’t his fault, Marcel!”</p><p>“HE KILLED HER!” he yelled angrily, shoving Hilda back. “HE FUCKING KILLED HER!”</p><p>Hilda easily caught Marcel’s hand before he could shove her again, and squeezed hard enough to crack his wrist. “Don’t attack him for something he couldn’t control!” she said venomously, new tears already flowing steadily down her face. She turned to face her brother, who had covered his face and was now sobbing into his bloody hands.</p><p>“I loved her,” he repeated over and over, shaking his head. “I swear I did…”</p><p>Marcel held back the urge to attack both siblings again. “Get up,” he said lowly. When Kol didn’t immediately listen, he yelled, “Get up! This is New Orleans. Witch spirits can be brought back from the dead, so that is exactly what we are going to do. We are going to bring her back!” He faced Hilda. “I’m going to call Vincent. Stay here. I need some air.”</p><p>He walked out, and Hilda ran to her brother’s side, hoisting him up. “Kol, look at me,” she said, holding his face in her hands. “Kol—”</p><p>“I l-lied to you, H-Hilly,” he sobbed. “I k-knew they d-did something… I s-should have told you…”</p><p>“You didn’t know what exactly it was, you just knew it was heightened bloodlust, Kol, please… breathe.” She drew a deep inhale and urged him to mimic her. “Like Marcel said. We’re going to bring her back.”</p><p>Kol sniffled, and she pulled him back into a hug, rubbing his back. “Breathe,” she beckoned again, bringing a hand up to caress the back of his head. “Breathe, Kol…”</p><p>“I-I hate this,” he whimpered. “I h-hate it, Hilly… I j-just want to be h-human again…”</p><p>“And we’ll find a way to do it,” she whispered, kissing the top of his head. “We’re going to do it, brother, I promise you this. Somehow. We’re going to get better and we’ll never lose control again.”</p><p>“S-So many bloody y-years,” he panted. “It’s too much… I w-want to be with her… j-just her… if s-she’ll forgive me…”</p><p>“Of course she will, don’t you doubt it for even a second. Davina and Marcel both know it wasn’t your fault, okay? Trust me when I say that.”</p><p>It broke Hilda’s heart to see her brother like this. Time and time again, she and Kol had seen each other through some of the worst moments in their lives. After she was nearly assaulted, he hadn’t left her side for months, and remained firm in his efforts to help her through her breakdown. When they had episodes, they were always there to support each other. Hilda knew Kol would never have hurt Davina, not in his right mind. He had never loved someone like this, and she knew she needed to do everything in her power to set things right.</p><p>Vincent arrived around half an hour later with all the materials he needed to ensure Davina could be resurrected. “Okay, we got to get her consecrated right now,” he said as he examined her body, which had been laid on one of the tables. “If we don't we can't even attempt to get her back.”</p><p>Kol stared at him incredulously. “We can't consecrate her!”</p><p>“What the hell are you talking about?” demanded Marcel.</p><p>“He means because of the Ancestors,” said Hilda. “If she’s consecrated, she’ll wake up in the Ancestral well.”</p><p>“They despise her,” added Kol. “If she arrives in their domain, they will destroy her.”</p><p>“If we don’t consecrate her, we’ll never see her again!” Marcel snapped.</p><p>Vincent held his hands up and stepped between them. “Hey, that's enough. All right? We all want to help her, so we need to make sure that she's consecrated, but she's got to be safe so we're gonna pull her into a place where she's protected, then we can resurrect her.” He clasped his hands together and looked over at Davina. “And that's gonna require a lot of energy, and my power's not what it used to be before I got shunned.”</p><p>“So you can channel me,” offered Hilda.</p><p>Marcel pursed his lips. “Or better yet, Freya can help and channel Hilda simultaneously.”</p><p>Kol scoffed. “You think my family's going to help? Nik hates Davina. Freya will not defy him.”</p><p>Marcel swore loudly. “This wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for your family!”</p><p>Hilda growled in exasperation. “Don’t blame Kol for this. I will ask Freya, she will help. I’ll convince Nik— I’ll do whatever I have to do to make this right, okay?”</p><p>“Fine,” grunted Marcel, looking Vincent. “Prepare her body.” He faced the twins. “Let’s go.”</p><p>The three vampires sped to the Compound, and they found that Alaric had already taken the twins back upstairs. Only Elijah lingered in the courtyard, apparently waiting to find out what happened. </p><p>“We need Freya’s help,” announced Kol, moving toward his brother. “Please, brother.” He took Elijah’s hands. “Just this once I need you lot to back me up. We have to find a way to resurrect Davina. I n-never meant for her to die.”</p><p>Elijah was clearly conflicted. “We are attempting to find a way to subdue Lucien,” he said quietly.</p><p>“And we can do that when Davina is back,” said Hilda pointedly. “We can’t waste a moment, Elijah, please.”</p><p>He hesitated. “This is a war. Please, understand, I despise the situation—”</p><p>“No, that’s the wrong answer!” yelled Kol, realizing Elijah didn’t want to help. </p><p>“Hey—” Hilda yanked her brother back as Marcel stepped forward. “I know this is a war, but I’ve lost a lot of friends, too,” he told Elijah. “Today, I <em>need</em> your help.”</p><p>“Then you shall have it.”</p><p>They looked up to see a very sad looking Klaus making their way toward them. He came forward and put his arm around his younger brother. “Come on, Kol, let’s get you cleaned up.”</p><p>Marcel looked at Klaus appreciatively. “Thank you.”</p><p>“I’ll go inform Freya,” said Hilda, speeding away to where her sister was in the study. She quickly explained the situation, and within minutes, Freya had an idea of what to do. She grabbed several candles and some herbs and salt before going to the second floor lounge, setting up the materials beside the small table where they had a map of the world and blood to show where Klaus’s enemies were, still held down by a different set of candles. Using the herbs and black salt, Freya made a circle, and was ready just as Kol, Klaus, and Elijah came into the room.</p><p>“I'll draw Davina's spirit to a circle,” Freya explained. “As long as she's there, the Ancestors won't be able to torment her. With luck that will buy you some time to find a way to resurrect her, but I'll need to channel an Original if I'm going to sustain the spell.”</p><p>“Well, take me,” said Kol. “Put me down for all I care, if it keeps her safe.”</p><p>Freya shook her head. “No, you've been marred by the Ancestors' magic, so, Klaus, Elijah, Hilda, rock, paper, scissors… somehow—”</p><p>The candles on the other table suddenly flared up, and Elijah grimaced. “That can't be good.”</p><p>Freya looked concerned. “My early warning system. I think a New Orleans witch is trying to meddle with one of you.”</p><p>Klaus was almost unamused. It seemed her was numb with grief. “Lucien has the new Regent at his beck and call. It's me he's coming after.”</p><p>But behind them, a portrait of Rebekah suddenly caught fire, and the siblings whirled around to face it. Freya’s face blanched. “No… he’s going after Rebekah…”</p><p>The Original hybrid swore and growled, turning to face away from them before looking back. “Lucien thought that killing Cami would have me charging into his lair on a suicide mission. When it didn't, he set his sights on Rebekah. He's kicking hornets' nests, until we have no choice but to confront him.”</p><p>Elijah furrowed his brows. “Presumably, he still believes she's at the bottom of the ocean.”</p><p>“I cloaked all of you,” said Freya, “but with the Ancestors working for Lucien, it may take awhile, but if he wants to find Rebekah, he will.”</p><p>“I’ll go get her,” said Hilda, but Klaus stopped her. “No, I will go.”</p><p>“It’s not safe for any of us out there,” noted Freya.</p><p>Klaus was too impatient to listen. “What then?! Are we to sit here and play cards until Lucien slides Rebekah's bitten corpse down the hall?”</p><p>“Let me go,” Elijah offered, but Klaus just shook his head. “I moved her.”</p><p>His four siblings stared at him in shock, and the hybrid rolled his eyes. “Don’t look so shocked. I never did like you two sharing secrets, Elijah.”</p><p>“Tell me where she is, unless you expect me to stay here and leave our sister entirely defenseless,” Elijah said fiercely.</p><p>“You will remain here!” snapped Klaus. “I expect you and Hilda to prevent Kol from suffering the same loss that I did. Lucien deserves our collective ire. Today, your grievances are tabled.” He walked out, and Hilda pursed her lips.</p><p>“Channel me,” she said. “I haven’t been tainted.”</p><p>Kol nodded gratefully. “I’ll be right back.” He sped off and returned with the Hand of Glory that would help bring about the spell. He looked his oldest sister in the eyes. “Freya, I need this to work.”</p><p>“Don’t worry, brother,” she told him gently. “Eleventh hour spells happen to be my specialty. Tell Vincent to begin the consecration.”</p><p>Elijah took out his phone to contact Vincent, and Hilda gave her hand to Freya, the two beginning to chant, <em>“Se que atrae us van el brun'en. Se que atrae us van el brun'en. Se que atrae us van el brun'en. Se que atrae us van el brun'en….”</em></p><p>There was a tense several moments when Hilda feared that their attempt wasn’t going to work. But suddenly, the Hand of Glory lit up, and there was a sort of blurred image in the air within the circle before Davina appeared, gasping and looking around, alarmed. “Whatever it is you did, thank you,” the young girl whispered</p><p>Kol moved forward immediately, and the couple each held out their hand, but they soon realized that the protective barrier wouldn’t allow it. “What happened?” asked Kol, looking over to a cut on Davina’s forehead. “What did you see?”</p><p>“Van’s mother, Kara Nguyen,” she said shakily. “The witch I had assassinated. She was there. She tried to magically mark me. As she did it, I felt freezing cold and then this impossible sadness.”</p><p>Kol narrowed his eyes. “Did she have a dark green stone?”</p><p>Davina nodded, and Kol looked grimly at his sisters. “<em>La Gemme Vital.</em> The Lifeblood Stone. They tried to use it on me, but my vampire soul was too stained for their magic to work. Davina, if she had succeeded at marking you, your very soul would have shredded into pieces. A fate worse than death. There'd be no rescuing you. All right, that stone is your Ancestors' greatest punishment.”</p><p>The young witch tried to act as though this didn’t terrify her. “Well, it's a good thing she didn't then. I'm right here, and you're going to bring me back. Today, right?”</p><p>“I swear it,” he said, before Elijah cleared his throat. “Vincent says he is ready.”</p><p>Hilda clapped her hands together. “Good. That means that soon, we’ll have the magic needed to resurrect you. Any idea what he’s trying?”</p><p>“I’m not certain,” admitted Elijah. “But I would suspect it has something to do with Van Nguyen.”</p><p>Davina bit her lip. “If he uses his Regent power, he would definitely be able to bring me back.”</p><p>“He can channel me, too, if it isn’t enough,” said Hilda. “It can’t be Kol because otherwise the Ancestors would just sabotage it.”</p><p>Davina offered her a smile. “Thank you,” she said as Freya and Elijah left the room. “Seriously.”</p><p>They looked back into the doorway as Marcel entered the room, a look of relief flooding over his face as he saw Davina. He moved to be beside Kol, who nodded at his sister before she ascended the staircase to get to where Alaric was getting the babies ready for a bath.</p><p>“Here to help,” she offered, going to get the little baby bathtub that would facilitate the process.</p><p>Alaric looked at her and half-smiled. “You don’t have to, you know, you can be with your brother.”</p><p>“Nonsense, this is a two person job.” She frowned when she realized that something seemed to be bothering him. “Ric, what’s wrong? You know you can always talk to me, right? Even if we’re not…”</p><p>There was a moment’s pause. “I miss Damon,” Alaric admitted quietly. “When… when you got the call about Davina, my first instinct was to call him. I felt like I needed to vent, to just… speak to someone about everything because I feel so fucking useless. I’m the only human here. I contribute nothing and time and time again I just have to watch things unfold without being able to do anything. I hate it. And… Damon’s my best friend and he was the first person I thought of, but he’s not available.”</p><p>Hilda came closer and took his hands. “Tell me what’s on your mind,” she beckoned. “Please.”</p><p>He winced. “A part of me wants to be so mad at him. I want to yell at him and ask why he thought to do this without… without saying goodbye. I shouldn’t have had to find out about it from Bonnie. He didn’t say goodbye to her either and it irks me. I thought she and I were his best friends. I almost want to hate him. But then… I think back and I hate myself even more. I’ve done worse things. I don’t want to go into the specifics because I know we already talked about this and I don’t want to hurt you anymore than I have… but I hurt you and I hurt Jo after forging a relationship with her while I was in love with you. </p><p>“And the other part is… I can’t imagine missing someone so badly that you choose to abandon everything else. My entire body just aches everyday missing Jo, but I have you and I have the girls and it gets me through it. Your siblings have been so kind to me even though I serve no purpose here. Damon thought he killed Elena when he was suffering the after-effects of the Phoenix Stone. He was losing it. It makes me think of how much he loves her and I envy that. His loyalty. I should have been a more loyal man and even though Damon did some pretty terrible things over the course of our friendship, he’s become so much of a better man and I just became worse. He knew that the longer he was without her, the more unhinged and dangerous he’d be, and he thought this was the right thing to do. Maybe I hate it but I have to respect his choice. </p><p>“It just… it gets me thinking about how… sometimes, there’s just that one person that makes you act in a way that everyone else perceives as crazy. But in that moment all you really think is… this feels so right. This is what I need to do. Damon saw fit to put himself down even though the rest of us didn’t like that. When you and I were first starting to get into the ‘talking’ phase, they all told me I was nuts. Damon cracked way too many jokes about how you’d snap me like a twig if I ever made you mad.</p><p>“I miss him, Hilda. I miss him and I miss Jo and I miss you, even though you’re right in front of me. And I say that because you’re not as happy as you used to be when you were around me. I know a lot of other stuff has been happening, but I used to be the person you could come to when you were having problems. I used to be able to make you laugh until you were sore. Now, all I am is the man that hurt you, and you’re stuck with me. You deserve a better man as your co-parent.”</p><p>She put her hands against his face, brushing some strands of hair away from his temples. He was crying, and so was she. The temptation to kiss him skyrocketed in that moment— it felt like the right thing to do. But Hilda knew that this was too serious of a conversation to be making a move like that.</p><p>“Ric,” she murmured, making him look her in the eye. “You are not useless. You are a wonderful father and I don’t feel any sort of anger at you, okay? Trust me on that. I care about you so, so much and I know that Damon and Jo did, too. Even when a person leaves us, they are always there with us. In our memories. Our love for them is what ensures we never forget them. Damon will come back one day. You and I… we will figure things out and we will raise these girls to be the exemplary young adults that Jo would have wanted them to be. I promise you, I will be here for you every step of the way. You know why? Because <em>I love you</em>, Alaric. These four years that I have known you have been both the best and worst of my life, but you know what stands out? <em>You</em>. As I said before, in three years or more, I will still love you. It doesn’t matter if we’re only friends or if we’re eventually together. We will work things out, I swear it. Please, don’t hesitate if you need to talk. I’m here for you. You’ve always been there for me. Let me return the favor.”</p><p>He opened his mouth to speak, but she put a finger over his lips. “Don’t say it back until you’re ready,” Hilda whispered. “Please. The day you are certain that this is what you want… you can tell me.”</p><p>“And what if that day is today?” Alaric asked her, tilting her chin up this time.</p><p>“You know it can’t be,” she murmured. “It’s too soon.”</p><p>“I know. But it doesn’t have to be said on the day we jump into a relationship, does it? Because I love you, Hilda Mikaelson. As a friend, as a partner, as the mother of my daughters, as the… late night call and gossiping B-F-F that helped me remain entertained… as the badass training instructor that taught me self-control when I was a vampire… I want this, and I know we’re going to wait, but I still need you to know it right now. I don’t know what’s going to happen and I just… needed to say it back.”</p><p>Hilda’s lip quivered, and he dipped down to kiss her forehead. “I promise, when I’m ready, I’ll tell you explicitly,” he whispered. “So long as you promise me to be honest about when you’re ready, too, even if it’s not at the same time as me.”</p><p>She offered him a smile. “I promise.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey! Just an announcement regarding future TVD/TO stories from me:</p><p>Planned stories:<br/>- Kai Parker! I’m super excited for this one, I’m looking forward to writing this OC. For now, I’m thinking to start the story in Season 5 of TVD and use flashbacks to summarize what happened before. Subject to change but I really do intend to write this story.<br/>- Klaus Mikaelson! My OC would be a werewolf-witch hybrid. I recently learned that there’s an apparent werewolf-witch hybrid character in the books (named Vivianne) but I guarantee that I don’t want to base myself off of that (I wrote 6 pages of ‘history’ that I fabricated about one of the seven werewolf packs for my OC to be from, so I promise, this will have a more original flair since I don’t want to copy something that exists, and I want to add my own ideas to this concept of werewolf-witch hybrids). I’m also very excited for this one... I already wrote like 100 pages for it... I don’t know if I’ll publish it before or after the story mentioned above, but we’ll see. For now, I do intend for it to be a Klaus story but that's subject to change, too. </p><p>That’s all, folks, thanks if you read this far :) Please comment which story you'd be most interested in, if you want!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0063"><h2>63. Chapter 63</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>It was ridiculous how quickly chaos erupted near the Mikaelsons.</strong>
</p><p>For one, it had been chaotic to bathe the twins this time around. </p><p>“Okay, I don’t know why they’re splashing so much this time,” said Alaric weakly as the girls started to wave their little arms and legs as if intentionally trying to make a mess.</p><p>“They’re wide awake right now,” said Hilda, trying to hold Lizzie steady. “Oh— come on, darling, I can’t wash your face if you do that. Do you want to get soap in your eye? I guarantee it’s not a pleasant experience.”</p><p>“And we can’t bathe them one at a time…”</p><p>“...or the other one will start a riot…”</p><p>“...and then they’ll both be screaming…”</p><p>Josie started to gurgle as Alaric tried to gently rub the cloth with soap and water over her still shaking arms. “Please, princess, just calm down for a minute,” he pleaded desperately. “Just—” he shut his eyes quickly as the twins splashed more water up, hitting him right in the face.</p><p>“I’m glad we have ratty t-shirts to wear for this process,” said Hilda as Alaric pulled his shirt up to wipe his face.</p><p>He chuckled lightly. “I’ll be glad when they can do this by themselves.” He watched as Hilda tried to keep Lizzie from kicking anymore. She was struggling, since she didn’t want to grip too hard and accidentally hurt her. “Here, let’s switch—”</p><p>They moved places, and Alaric did his best to calm Lizzie down while Hilda took advantage of her vampire speed to bathe Josie in the short moments when she was still. They switched again, and Lizzie started to wail as Alaric used a clean cloth to wrap Josie up and dry her. At the very least, this left Lizzie fairly still, and Hilda was able to bathe her before wrapping her in a similar manner.</p><p>Alaric and Hilda had both ended up with their shirts drenched and wrinkled, their faces splattered in soap. Miraculously, the twins became calm, and were happy to receive their bottles once they were dressed. They fell asleep with their bellies full, smelling like soap and cuddled up beside each other, looking like perfect little angels who hadn’t just made bathtime a warzone.</p><p>“I think next time, let’s try one of us staying with one of the twins in the other room, entertaining them, while the other tries to quickly bathe the other one,” suggested Hilda as she went to change her shirt. “If I go first with Lizzie, maybe Josie will be calm enough and I can finish fast enough so that Josie won’t fuss when you try to bathe her.”</p><p>“We could try that,” Alaric agreed. “Damn. I’m really thankful that I have you, because I don’t know how I would have managed to do this by myself.”</p><p>She offered him a smile as she put on a comfier (and dry) shirt. “Likewise. I’ll be back, I need to go check on Freya’s progress.”</p><p>In the time it had taken Hilda to help Alaric bathe the twins, the Compound had erupted into a problem that could not easily be fixed. She moved down the stairs leisurely at first until she heard the sound of a commotion. As she made it back to the lounge, this time at full speed, she saw more chaos unfolding. </p><p>“What are you doing?” she cried as she watched Elijah snap Marcel’s neck. Freya was chanting by the table, and Davina was screaming, but before Hilda could do anything, her brother caught her.</p><p>“I can’t let you do that,” he said, slamming her into the nearest wall.</p><p>“Elijah, get off!” Hilda yelled, reaching her hands up to try and claw him off, but he snapped her arms to the side, making her cry out in pain. </p><p>“PLEASE, STOP!” Davina sobbed as Freya continued to chant. “Don’t do this to me! Don’t make me go back, please— KOL! HILDA!”</p><p>Hilda was fighting like mad trying to get her brother off, but she hadn’t trained in months, and he was easily able to keep her down as Freya stopped chanting. Davina let out a piercing scream of pure terror, and she suddenly vanished.</p><p>“It had to be done,” Freya panted, watching as Hilda stared at the empty circle in horror, ceasing to fight against Elijah.</p><p>He let go of her and moved to Freya, taking her arm and speeding away with her. Hilda had no idea why they had done it, and she was left without even the slightest explanation. She collapsed on the floor beside Marcel, shaking and trying to wrap her mind around why they’d chosen to break through the circle of black salt, ripping Davina away and sending her right back to the Ancestors who wanted to kill her.</p><p>Alaric came sprinting down, panting heavily. “I heard screaming,” he said, before he stopped suddenly, seeing Davina was gone. “No… they didn’t…”</p><p>Hilda started to cry, bringing her hands up to cover her face. “Oh n-no… no… no… K-Kol—” she gasped for breath and Alaric dropped down at her side. “H-He doesn’t— he’s— how c-could they—?”</p><p>“But… but why?” Alaric was staring at the sand in disbelief. “They… they said they were going to help… she was just a kid…”</p><p>“I-I don’t k-know,” Hilda said, turning to Marcel and shaking him. “Damn it… wake up…” she bit into her wrist and pressed it against his lips. “W-Wake up… M-Marcel…”</p><p>But her blood was useless in such a situation. She had to wait for him to come back to life, and the in-between was pure agony. She scrambled over to the table to try and see what spell Freya had been performing, but there were no notes— it had to have been something off the top of her head. Hilda couldn’t even hope to try and reverse the damage; she had no magic of her own. </p><p>“What do we do?” said Alaric more frantically. He had even less of an idea what might’ve caused Freya and Elijah to turn their backs on the young witch. “How can I help?”</p><p>Hilda felt her mouth going dry. “I-I don’t know if there’s a way to help… she’s…” She gulped and pulled her out phone, dialing Vincent’s number, but he didn’t answer. “Bloody hell… I don’t have K-Kol’s number…”</p><p>Waiting for anyone to come back to the Compound was the worst experience ever. Hilda paced back and forth trying to figure out how to contact her brother, but without a witch, that felt pretty impossible. She knew Hayley and Klaus had left, and aside from that, she had no idea where anyone had gone. She knew Hope was with Mary, she knew Elijah and Freya were somewhere together, Vincent had left with Kol, and Marcel was dead on the floor…</p><p>A groan let them know that Marcel was stirring. He started to get up, and right at that moment, Vincent and Kol dragged in Van Nguyen. When they didn’t see Davina, Vincent immediately yanked them all forward. “Who broke the circle?” he asked immediately.</p><p>“Elijah jumped me,” said Marcel a bit groggily as Alaric went to help him up. “Freya took Davina down somehow.”</p><p>Kol frowned, going rigid at the sight of Hilda crying. “My brother? Why… why would he do that?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Hilda managed as steadily as she could. “But we need to resurrect her right now.”</p><p>Vincent moved Van forward. “He’s gonna use every bit of his Regency power to bring her back.”</p><p>Marcel nodded. “Good. I’ll get Davina’s body.” He sped off, and Kol ran to his sister’s side.</p><p>“Hilly… tell me it’s not true.” He was shaking, and Hilda knew that the guilt was flooding back into his head.</p><p>She squeezed her eyes shut. “I… I just came down and they were doing a spell… I don’t know why…”</p><p>Vincent cast them a grave look. “Lucien,” he murmured. “It has to be. They must have… channeled her in a sense to take the Ancestors’ same power to kill him.”</p><p>“They sacrificed her to get rid of him?” snarled Hilda. She stared at her brother, and the twins seemed to have a silent conversation that left Alaric and Vincent looking very confused when they both nodded, and looked down at their feet.</p><p>“What?” said Alaric, staring at both of them, awaiting an explanation. “What happened?”</p><p>“We’re going to leave,” said Kol darkly. “As soon as we bring Davina back, we’re leaving. I suggest you start packing. I stayed for Hilly, but they haven’t changed as much as we thought. Every time, our siblings forsake our wellbeing for their own selfish gains. We can’t live here anymore, not without losing our bloody minds.”</p><p>Hilda looked at Alaric to confirm that this was true, and he put his hands together. “Okay, then,” he said simply. “While you all perform the spell, I’m gonna go call about the house and the furniture, and I’ll start putting everything together.”</p><p>“Ric, you don’t have to do it right at this moment,” she said quietly.</p><p>“Well, I can’t exactly do magic so I might as well do something.”</p><p>She put one hand on his chest appreciatively. “I know you don’t like the idea of compulsion, so just mention the Mikaelson name and the money and I guarantee they’ll put a major rush on it.”</p><p>He nodded and cast her a smile before making his way to the stairs. Vincent moved back toward Van, and Kol put his arm around his sister, leaning into her. “You got a good one, Hilly,” he whispered. “Those little girls are lucky. He’s better than Mikael ever was.”</p><p>“Yes, he is,” she said softly, standing straighter as Marcel came back with Davina’s body, setting her down gently inside of the circle and stroking her hair as Vincent urged Van to begin.</p><p>Hilda moved to the witch’s side, offering him her hand, and allowing him to channel. He took it a bit skeptically and began, <em>“Respire la vie corpore. Respire la vie corpore. Respire la vie corpore…”</em></p><p>“Wake up, Davina,” whispered Kol, keeping beside her as Vincent took Hilda’s other hand, chanting quietly alongside Van.</p><p>But no amount of channeling and chanting could have brought her back in that moment. Her body remained limp, and Van looked up, terrified, knowing they were going to retaliate.</p><p>“What happened?” demanded Marcel.</p><p>“Nothing,” the Regent told them shakily. “It's like she wasn't there at all. The Ancestors got to her first.”</p><p>“Where the bloody hell is she?” snarled Kol, getting up.</p><p>Van held his hands up in surrender. “That's it man, she's gone.”</p><p>Marcel began to cry, pulling Davina up and pressing his forehead against hers, but Kol rushed to Van, pushing him roughly against the wall, the blackened-red veins appearing on his cheeks. “Do it again!”</p><p>“Kol, stop it,” said Hilda, pulling him off as Van trembled. “I can’t,” he said quietly. “If I had a chance at it, it's gone now.”</p><p>“He’s disposable now, Hilly, let go!” Kol yelled.</p><p>“Stop!” Vincent said, holding up his hands. He stopped in front of the twins. “It’s over, Kol. Davina would've wanted it that way.”</p><p>Kol swore loudly and shoved his sister aside. “I can’t do this,” he said, shrinking onto the floor. “I can’t…”</p><p>“I should've known better than to trust your family,” said Marcel from behind them, staring at Kol hatefully. “You people destroy everything you touch.”</p><p>Hilda wanted to tell him not to talk to her brother that way, but Kol stopped her, taking her hand and shaking his head. “I need to go,” he said, squeezing several tears out of his eyes. “I don’t want to be here.”</p><p>“Let’s go together, then,” she offered. “Come on…” She tugged at his arm, leading him upstairs to where Alaric had placed the girls in their stroller inside of Hilda’s room so that he could start packing his clothes. Kol sniffled and sat on his sister’s bed as she pulled Josie out and handed her to Kol, who cradled her gently as he began to cry as silently as he could.</p><p>“W-Why did they do that?” he cried, caressing Josie’s head as Hilda held Lizzie. By then, Alaric had closed the adjoining door to give them privacy. “E-Every good t-thing we have… it g-gets s-snatched away…” He looked down at the two babies and started to cry even more. “D-Davina made me think of b-being a f-father… With her… h-having a family m-made sense… b-but I d-don’t know if I c-could ever… I k-killed her… a-and why would a-anyone want a c-child to suffer l-like this?”</p><p>“We’re going to find a way to bring her back, whatever it takes,” promised Hilda, resting her head against his shoulder. “We will get away and we will be happy on our own. Minimal family interactions. It’s always been healthier when we stay away. I don’t care what their reasoning was… I can’t believe they went behind our backs. Especially yours. Whatever they were planning… they could have done it differently.”</p><p>Kol sniffled, and took several deep breaths before trying to speak. “I never want to forgive them, Hilly. I can’t. Why is it always you and I? We always suffer because they can’t stop causing problems, and like fools, we help them. I say… no more. You’re the only sister I care to interact with.”</p><p>“So come live with us.”</p><p>The twins looked up as Alaric stepped in, holding up his phone. “Sorry,” he said quickly. “The house will be ready in two days. That’s it— two more days here, and we can all go to Texas.”</p><p>Kol stared at him incredulously. “Excuse me?”</p><p>“I mean, you can come with us,” he said a bit sheepishly, as if scared how Kol would react. “It’s a three bedroom, two bath, the twins are going to be in the same room as me either way and you and Hilda can each take a room, and well…” he looked at the older of the two and cleared his throat, catching the realization on her face, “We’re most likely going to end up sleeping in the same bed at some point, so…”</p><p>The younger of the twins was left speechless. Hilda had never seen Kol looked so confused. He clearly hadn’t thought he’d be invited into their home when the girls were so little. He opened his mouth to answer then looked down, putting Josie back in the stroller before speeding away.</p><p>Alaric frowned. “Did I say something wrong? It was the bed thing, wasn’t it? That was stupid of me, I shouldn’t have mentioned that…”</p><p>Hilda set Lizzie down and went to stand in front of him. “He’s touched, Ric,” she told him. “Besides Davina and I… no one outside of our family has ever been that nice to him upfront. Not in recent times, at least. Kol and I, in our travels, were never offered hospitality, we always had to take it and compel others to invite us into their homes. He’s feeling guilt and loneliness and you welcomed him into a place that he thought he wouldn’t be allowed into until several years from now. It was kind of you, and he just got overwhelmed. He doesn’t think he deserves it, despite knowing he does, and it’s… conflicting. I’m going to go check on Marcel then check on Kol, if that’s alright with you.”</p><p>“Just one thing first,” he whispered. “Are you okay? I know you and Davina weren’t the closest, but you got along well and she’s basically your sister-in-law.”</p><p>Hilda’s lip trembled. “I can’t let myself feel bad because then, I can’t make sure the others are okay.”</p><p>“Well… sometimes you need to be a little bit selfish. If you don’t help yourself, how can you help others?”</p><p>She put her hands against his chest. “I’ll be fine,” she said, letting her forehead hang down as she leaned into him. “Thank you. I’ll be back soon. I’m sorry I keep leaving you alone with the girls.”</p><p>He cupped her cheeks to make her look up at him. “Don’t apologize for being such an amazingly selfless person. I could never be mad at you for that. I hope that one day, the girls are just as kind as you are. And don’t say that you aren’t kind, because you are.”</p><p>Hilda dared to tiptoe and kiss him on the cheek. “I’ll be back soon.”</p><p>She sped out and found that Marcel still hadn’t left. In fact, he was taking advantage of Klaus’s supply of liquor. Hilda walked in slowly, seeing he’d already downed an entire bottle of scotch. Wordlessly, she moved to the cabinet and brought him some more bottles, setting them gently beside him.</p><p>“I don’t blame you,” he said quietly, making her nearly jump out of her skin since she wasn’t expecting him to talk to her.</p><p>“You don’t?” she inquired.</p><p>“No.” He set his hand against the counter. She saw it was trembling, and he’d taken his daylight ring off momentarily. “I know it’s not your fault, Hilda. You tried to protect her. And look… I don’t want to blame Kol, either. But he was the one who killed her, and I can’t easily forget that. Just know that you don’t need to walk on eggshells around me.”</p><p>He laughed bitterly, and opened one of the bottles she had brought for him. “When I first met the two of you, I hated you. Especially Kol. That incident with the blood and the Shakespearian actors murdering each other… not a good memory I hold onto. When I found out Davina had a thing for him, I was ready to send her to a… a boarding school in Paris, or something, just to get her away from him. </p><p>“But then I remembered you. You were nice to me as often as you could. Still really temperamental, but you didn’t make me feel afraid. You kept Kol in check. When you were undaggered again in the 1900s... I was grown up, and the hatred had passed. The resentment for your brother, not so much. I remember that Christmas night in 1914. I helped you both get daggered simply for wanting to defend yourselves against siblings who mistreated you. </p><p>“I never realized how much I related to the two of you. You were the black sheep of the family. Bekah, Elijah, and Klaus always ganged up against you both. You were their collateral damage even when you were their siblings. And I guess even you have more privileges because at the end of the day, you fight with each other. Now, you have three new additions to the family. Three little girls who are entering dysfunction that’s rooted in over a thousand years of abuse and betrayal. I worry about them. I worry about Hayley and Alaric. I worry… worried about Davina. And now, look what happened.</p><p>“Today was the last straw for me. Time and time again I’ve watched them take you and Kol for granted, and they’ve taken me for granted, too. Davina helped them so many times at my request, and this was how she was repaid. I can’t do this anymore, and I know that you and Kol are going to leave. You, especially, need to go. Those twin girls of yours are too precious and they’ll be corrupted if you stay so close to your siblings. Especially Elijah. And I know it’s not wise to talk bad about your siblings, but I can’t stand them, Hilda. You and Rebekah were the only ones who I felt even cared about me, without making a problem out of it. Klaus was not the best dad. Elijah is just… Elijah. And Kol… I don’t know if I can ever forgive him, but he’s sure as hell closer to being forgiven compared to Elijah, Freya, and Klaus.”</p><p>“Do what you need to do,” said Hilda softly. “Kol and I know what’s best for us. We’ve always known that leaving is what helped us stay sane. You have done so much for this family, Marcel, and I’m so sorry that we haven’t been better. What happened today should not have…” She stopped, and shook her head. “I’m sorry. From the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry. I know she was like a daughter to you and even as a new mother… I can imagine the pain and I want you to know I’m here for you. Don’t feel obligated to associate with any of us, not even Kol. But you will always be welcome wherever Rebekah and I are. You may not believe it, but I consider you family, and I’m sorry I haven’t done a better job of showing it.”</p><p>The two vampires were silent, hearing that someone had entered the house. Marcel drank from the bottle in his hand until he had finished it, and they looked up as Elijah and Klaus walked into the room.</p><p>As soon as they stepped through the doorway, Marcel took the now empty bottle of whiskey and threw it into the nearest wall, smashing it to pieces and whirling around to face the two brothers. “I did everything you asked,” he said lowly, turning first to Elijah. “I joined your stupid cult, I left my friends in the dust because that's what you needed!”</p><p>Klaus gave him a pained, guilty look. “Marcel…”</p><p>“I fought for Hope!” Marcel yelled. “I kept Hayley breathing, I kept white oak from piercing your cold black heart. I did <em>everything</em>.”</p><p>Elijah winced. “We know.”</p><p>“No, you don’t,” Marcel sneered. “No you don't!”</p><p>“Marcel, he had no choice!” Klaus pleaded.</p><p>Marcel glared at Klaus hatefully. “Oh... they were right about you… yeah, Aurora, Tristan, Lucien. Anybody who's not your family, is nothing to you. Nothing.”</p><p>“Marcellus, you are family,” Elijah said quietly.</p><p>“No I’m not,” said Marcel, and this time he looked at Hilda too. “Not anymore. Never again. I am not your family. Davina was my family, and you took her from me.” He stared at the younger Original. “Like I said, get your daughters, get your boyfriend, get out of here before they end up dead, too.” He brushed past them, knocking a chair out of the way and speeding out the doorway.</p><p>Hilda stared at her brothers without any emotion on her face. “Are you kidding me?” she said softly. “Just when I thought—”</p><p>“This isn’t Niklaus’s fault,” Elijah said immediately. “He told me not to. If you’re going to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”</p><p>“Oh, I <em>am</em> mad at you,” she snapped. “I never retaliated after I found out about how you ruined what Tristan and I had. I just sat back and sucked up all my feelings because I had to worry about the two little girls who were growing inside of me. Now, he’s at the bottom of the ocean and all I got was a goodbye letter. He never would have become such a hateful person if you all hadn’t compelled him, his sister, and Lucien to be bait for Mikael. Maybe I’m fine without him, maybe I’m better off knowing he’s out of my life, but <em>it still hurts</em>, Elijah. I thought maybe things were getting better around here… I thought that I’d get to raise my daughters telling them how amazing their uncles and aunts are. But you know what? You’ll be lucky if you get to see them even once a year, because I don’t want them near someone who would think to sacrifice a young girl to defeat someone who really only became a monster because of your influence. I don't care if it was in the name of family, because if that was the truth, then you would have stopped to think that Marcel and Davina <em>are</em>Mikaelsons even if their surnames don't reflect that. Just as Alaric, Josie, and Lizzie are Mikaelsons even if legally, and through blood, they're Saltzmans. I want you to stop and think about what’s happened. Kol and I aren’t going to forgive and forget. You’ll be lucky if Marcel and Vincent ever do you another favor. And when Rebekah finds out, you bet she’s not going to be happy.”</p><p>She made to walk out, stopping in the doorway and scoffing. “You know, for a moment, I really thought this family was improving. I really thought that ‘Always and Forever’ would become something I could teach my girls. Turns out I was sorely mistaken.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0064"><h2>64. Chapter 64</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda found that Kol had returned to the Compound.</strong>
</p><p>“Hey,” he told her, sitting on her bed and now holding Lizzie. He and Alaric seemed to have had a conversation of their own, and from the looks of it, it had gone well. “So… it seems I’m going to live with the four of you for a few months. Just until I feel well enough to be alone again and travel.”</p><p>“That’s wonderful, Kol,” said Hilda, casting Alaric a grateful look as she sat beside her brother. </p><p>Kol held Lizzie up slightly to show that she’d fallen asleep in his arms. “They are alright, really, babies… when they’re calm.”</p><p>When the twins had been put in their crib, Alaric had bade the elder twins goodnight. Kol had remained curled up at Hilda’s side, not wanting to be by himself. She stroked his hair for hours, since she was unable to sleep, and wanted to at least help him feel some sort of comfort. A few times when he started to have nightmares, she slipped into his mind to help make the dream more pleasant. </p><p>It was the early hours of the morning when Hilda got out of the bed, speeding into the next room to pick the twins up before they could start to cry. By then, Alaric knew the schedule well, and was already waking up to help prepare the bottles as she rocked the babies gently in her arms. </p><p>“Thank you,” whispered Hilda as he took Josie to start feeding her. “Seriously… Kol needed kindness and you gave it to him without hesitation.”</p><p>“Yeah, of course,” he told her a bit sleepily. “It’s really no trouble. I’m going to be at work for hours and at least you can keep each other company. I trust him around the twins.”</p><p>They were silent for a moment, and then Alaric said, “We heard you mention Tristan.”</p><p>Hilda’s face felt hot. “Oh. Sorry.”</p><p>“Why are you apologizing? I should be the one saying ‘sorry.’ I haven’t asked you at all how you’ve been feeling about that. After you got his letter, I never checked in. I haven’t offered to listen if you needed to talk about it… I know you haven’t forgiven him after what he did to Jackson. If you just need someone to vent to…”</p><p>“I’m alright, Alaric, I promise,” she told him quietly. “Talking about it will make it a problem. I know I need to try and forget him.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“Well… look what he did. He deserved what he got. I can’t think back on it. I won’t allow myself to miss him. He wasn’t the same man I initially fell in love with.”</p><p>“Is it really so wrong of you to miss him? To miss the person he was? You lost him after Elijah butted in. When you got him back and found out the truth, I showed up and told you about the pregnancy. You got ripped away and you didn’t get to speak to him often, and the next thing you knew, he was shoved in a container and into the sea for murdering someone close to you. It was sudden and you deserve to feel proper grief.”</p><p>“I already did. If you recall, I was wallowing in sadness after Nik told me what happened, and it stopped soon after I got the letter. I’m fine, Ric.”</p><p>She turned away to set Lizzie down, and he mimicked her with Josie. She tried not to look at him, but she gave a sniffle, and he turned her around himself, pulling her into a tight hug as she began to cry. </p><p>To her, it felt stupid to cry. She hated herself for missing Tristan. She wanted to hold onto who he had once been, but she knew that person was long gone. She felt sadness and regret. A part of her felt like it had been permanently carved away, and she hated that things had gone so astray. She would have rather never rekindled with Tristan. Hating him would be easier. But she could still remember every touch and every kind word. She remembered his letter, telling her that he believed she should be happy with Alaric. Him telling her that he thought Alaric was her soulmate.</p><p>It was all so conflicting in her mind. She missed Tristan. Finn. Cami. Davina. She wanted to move forward— she’d felt worse losses. And yet, this pain tormented her more, and she just needed to let it out.</p><p>She felt bad because she knew she was soaking Alaric’s shirt with her tears, but he didn’t seem to mind. He said nothing. He simply held her, caressing her back and letting her cry without judgement. He knew that it was difficult for her to put her feelings into words, and he wasn’t going to pressure her into trying to talk. He understood the complexity of her feelings and he didn’t think badly on her for missing someone she was once so close to. He wished she wouldn’t try to distract herself so often. He would never turn her away if she wanted to talk. And yet, he also understood that this simply didn’t make her feel comfortable. Distractions were less of a torment than having to admit everything.</p><p>When she started to pull away, his hold loosened, and he kissed the top of her head. “You are allowed to miss him and anyone else you’ve lost,” he whispered. “You are entitled to whichever feelings you want to have. Don’t ever feel like you have to suck it all up because you think others are going to give you crap about it. Forget what anyone else thinks. I want the girls to learn that you and I are always going to be there for them, just as you have always been there for me. I will <em>always</em>,” he cupped her face to make her look at him, “be here to help you, Hilda. You don’t have to go through any of this alone. Please… whatever you or Kol need, just tell me.”</p><p>“Thank you,” she told him for what felt like the millionth time as she moved back to wipe her eyes. “I should go back to sleep… I have to make sure Kol doesn’t have nightmares.”</p><p>He watched her go with a sad look on his face.</p><p>
  <strong>_</strong>
</p><p>“Say not in grief that she is no more, but be thankful that she ever was. And though she was taken far too soon, may her enduring light show us a way through this darkness. Let us mourn as we cannot move on until we do. And though the pain may at times seem like more than we can bare, make no mistake, we will move on. And even now, the words of Ecclesiasticus are ringing in my ears, they're saying vengeance as a lion shall lie in wait for them.”</p><p>Kol was gripping Hilda’s hand bruisingly tight as Vincent finished speaking. The twins looked over at the tomb that now bore the name ‘Davina Claire,’ where her body had been laid to rest. Beside them were Josh and Marcel, each looking just as forlorn. </p><p>Josh was the next one that stepped forward. “A while ago… forever ago… I told Davina a story about my first boyfriend but what I didn't tell her was that I had never shared that story with anyone else. She was like a sister and a best friend and I loved her. I wish th... uh…” he started to break down and stepped back quickly.</p><p>Vincent looked toward Kol expectantly, and Kol’s lip trembled. Hilda knew that there was a lot he wanted to say, but in front of everyone, it was difficult. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I can’t.”</p><p>Instead, Hilda took her turn. “When I first met you, I told you about how Claire witches had always been Kol and I’s favorites. You were young, fresh out of the Harvest ritual and being mistreated by those other girls. You shone above them and you proved to be stronger than anyone could have ever imagined. Your name means ‘beloved’ and I think I speak for us all when I say that you were beloved by all of us. We’ll find a way to help you walk among us again, darling. I promise.”</p><p>Marcel stared blankly at the tomb. He unfolded a piece of paper that resided in his hands, but he didn’t read from it. “Words aren’t any good,” he muttered. “The Mikaelsons need to answer for this. I’m gonna make them answer.” He put his hand against the tomb, tracing his fingers over the letters before walking off. </p><p>Kol let out a shaky breath. “I’m going to go back to the Compound, Hilly,” he whispered. “Give Cami my respects.” Hilda nodded, rubbing his back before he moved back through the rows of tombs.</p><p>“I should go with Marcel,” murmured Josh, nodding to her as he, too, left. Vincent cleared his throat and looked over at her. “Thank you for coming. I know she would have liked it.”</p><p>“We’ll bring her back,” Hilda promised. “No matter what it takes. There is always a loophole.”</p><p>Vincent didn’t look so optimistic, but he nodded.</p><p>She made her way to Rousseau’s for Cami’s wake. She didn’t intend to stay very long. She walked through the crowd of people, seeing that Klaus, Elijah, and Hayley were off to the side. Ahead of her, Marcel had placed a rose on Cami’s coffin before walking past her and exiting the building.</p><p>Hilda ignored her brothers as she moved forward and placed her palm against the coffin lid. “I don’t know if you’d want this,” she whispered, “but if I can find a way to bring Davina back, I can find a way to bring you back, too. I’m sorry we failed you, Cami.”</p><p>Elijah seemed to want to come speak to her, but she left before he could get too close. </p><p>She and Alaric spent the rest of the day preparing to leave, since Kol said that he had other business to attend to in the meantime. They packed and planned for which furniture they were going to have moved in for them. They spent hours on hold trying to make sure everything was ready, fully intending to get going the following evening to take advantage of nighttime for the long road ahead. </p><p>It was in the evening that Hayley came to the room, knocking and looking pale, as though something else had happened.</p><p>“Oh no,” whispered Hilda, preparing herself for the worst. “Who died now?”</p><p>“Marcel,” Hayley murmured.</p><p>That was certainly unexpected. Hilda stared at her in shock. “What? But… how?”</p><p>Hayley just shook her head and left the room. Hilda sped to Klaus’s study, finding him holding a bottle of bourbon, his hand trembling.</p><p>“Nik,” she managed as she stepped forward, her chest tight. “What happened?”</p><p>“Elijah,” he muttered, not turning to face her as she came to stand beside him on the balcony. He shook his head, taking a swig from the bottle. “Hayley does not understand. She seeks to defend him, resolute on the fact that he did it to protect our family.” He turned around, and Hilda saw his face was stained with tears. “Vincent Griffith extracted that bloody serum from Aurora. He gave it to Marcel and he… he was going to take it. Elijah reacted.” He sniffled, his lip quivering. “I thought Hayley would understand. She’s a mother. If someone would have ripped our daughter’s heart out, it would devastate her, no matter what.”</p><p>Hilda pulled him into her arms, cradling his head and letting him sob. “Oh, Nik,” she murmured. “I’m sorry…”</p><p>“H-He was my son,” he whispered. “My son…”</p><p>“Just let it out,” she prompted, patting his shoulders. “Go on…”</p><p>She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Klaus cry this much. Losing Cami and Marcel in such a short time span was likely worse for him than anything he’d ever felt before. He had lost his son and the girl he loved in a seventy-two hour period, one at the hand of his brother, the other at the hand of his first sireling. Hilda could very well imagine the guilt he was feeling.</p><p>“I will always be here to back you up, Nik,” she told him when he pulled back and tried to drink more bourbon. </p><p>He forced a sound that almost appeared to be a laugh. “Long ago, I was your least favorite brother. Now… you can somewhat tolerate me. And Elijah, well…”</p><p>“You’ve become a wonderful man,” she answered. “Whether you acknowledge it or not, you’ve changed, Nik. You’ve become the loving father that Hope deserves. The man Cami loved and the man Marcel admired. You are a good person, and you shouldn’t blame yourself for any of this, please. I know you didn’t mean for any of this to happen. You will never heal if you just beat yourself up.”</p><p>He handed her the bourbon, and she went to set it down. “How are we going to tell Rebekah?” he whispered. “I… I don’t have any idea what to expect… how to plan for it. I hate that she never got to know that Camille was from her sireline. She never got to be with Marcel even though she loved him so much. I haven’t managed to find a cure for her. She’s missing so much of Hope’s childhood… the twins… I’ve failed her.”</p><p>“You haven’t failed her, Nik. I promise you, we’ll find a way to bring her back. We’re going to make it through this.” She hugged him from behind, and he just began to cry again.</p><p>Hilda was all too ready to leave the next day. </p><p>In the morning, she and Alaric loaded their luggage into the car. The last thing to pack would be all the twins’ items, since they were staying until evening.</p><p>Nothing could have prepared them for what happened next.</p><p>Kol had arrived to help them put the bags in the trunk, and the twins had gone to Freya, who Hilda hadn’t spoken to since the incident with Davina. It appeared that Freya had texted Kol earlier, asking for advice on a spell.</p><p>“What’s the matter?” said Kol, seeing that the spell was related to the prophecy that had so long ago been mentioned. “You said you put the Prophecy to rest. What’s the worry?”</p><p>Freya looked uncomfortable, but she answered. “I didn't sleep last night. I just had this feeling of dread. I don't know if it' s my own guilt or maybe, it's my intuition telling me something's coming.”</p><p>“And what’s this?” said Hilda, nodding to a new map with blood dots on it, still showing those whose letters Klaus had collected over the years. “Your early warning system?”</p><p>Their elder sister nodded. “This map is spelled to trace Niklaus's enemies. Let's just hope I' m being paranoid.” She wove her hands over the map. <em>“Calaste piso tal tras es tros. Calaste piso tal tras es tros…”</em></p><p>The blood immediately began to move. The dots smeared against the parchment, all heading right for New Orleans. </p><p>Kol tensed. “I guess you're not being paranoid, when there is, in fact, a hoard of killers there to get you.” He looked over at Hilda. “Get Alaric to get going. You and I can catch up.”</p><p>She sped to the room where Alaric was just starting to put the twins’ bottles away. “Get everything you can, hurry,” she prompted, beginning to move things into the remaining suitcase. “It seems Nik’s enemies are all making their way here.”</p><p>He didn’t need to be told twice. The two scurried around and filled the last suitcase to the brim. Hilda put the twins in their carrier and Alaric folded the stroller for her to carry down with her as he took the suitcase.</p><p>“You and Kol will meet me at the house, I’m assuming?” he asked as he pushed the suitcase into the trunk.</p><p>“Yes,” she said, helping buckle the twins in. “I’m sorry for this. I can’t just leave. Kol and I are still on good enough terms with Nik and if something happens to him…”</p><p>“I get it,” he said, holding up his phone. “Don’t worry. I’ll update you every time I stop to check on the twins. Just please… if something goes down, don’t leave me in the dark about it.”</p><p>“I won’t, I promise.” She bit her lip, and impulsively pulled him forward, kissing him on the lips. “Just because I don’t know what’s going to happen.”</p><p>He was clearly stunned, and she had to beckon him into the driver’s seat. “Get going, quickly,” she urged, her cheeks red. She ducked inside the back door to give Josie and Lizzie each a kiss on the forehead. “Be good for your Papa. I’ll catch up soon, my little ones.” She closed the door and stepped back as Alaric started the car. She waved at him, a small smile on her face as he began to drive away.</p><p>She moved back into the compound where Kol was gathering weapons. He seemed to have already informed Klaus and Elijah of what was happening. “Freya’s tracking your sirelines now,” he said to them as Hilda walked up, plucking up Papa Tunde’s blade from the line of lethal-looking objects. “So it won't be long… which works for me. I could use a good fight.”</p><p>“Me too, though I don’t know how ready I am for one,” admitted Hilda.</p><p>“We have an advantage,” said Elijah, and neither twin looked up at him. “No vampire may enter this stronghold as long as the deed remains in Freya's name.”</p><p>“So what?” said Kol as his sister observed the blade. “We hide in here while the enemies mass at the front gate?”</p><p>“I say we go out and let the streets be painted red,” offered Hilda with a small smirk.</p><p>Klaus chuckled lightly. “Well, if they are so determined to die at our hands, let them come.”</p><p>Suddenly, they heard a cluttering noise. The siblings all shared a look before beginning to walk into the courtyard, with the twins bringing up the rear as Elijah and Klaus moved on ahead. They were greeted with the faces of at least one hundred vampires that were now flooding in and surrounding them, filling every space from the balconies and between the pillars. Hilda handed Papa Tunde’s blade to Kol and immediately started to roll up her sleeves, creating a sort of diamond with her brothers as they looked around, back to back, wondering who was going to pounce at them first.</p><p>“Never thought it would come to this.”</p><p>They all whirled around as Marcel walked right through the main entrance, more vampires behind him. It seemed to Hilda that there were now close to three hundred vampires all around the Compound. “But as always,” continued Marcel, “The Mikaelsons made my choice for me.”</p><p>“Marcel,” said Klaus softly, staring at him in disbelief. “How?”</p><p>“How are we in your home?” asked Marcel thoughtfully, beginning to circle around them. “I have friends who can nullify a deed, forclose on a property like that.” He snapped his fingers. “Or did you mean…  how am I not a rotting corpse?”</p><p>Klaus tried abate his ire. “I thought my friend was dead, and yet here you are. So send these fools away, and let's talk. You and me.”</p><p>“Is that relief I hear?” asked Marcel. “<em>Really?</em> If I hadn't been one step ahead of you, I would be at the bottom of the river.”</p><p>Elijah stepped forward beside his brother. “Marcel, your anger is with me. I'm the one that's responsible for this crime against you.”</p><p>Marcel scoffed. “One thing I learned sticking around this family, Elijah, you take on one of you, you are taking on all of you. These guys, Klaus's sirelings, they're here to bear witness today.”</p><p>“Are you planning to put on a little show, Marcellus?” asked Kol with a challenging tone in his voice.</p><p>Marcel held out his arms. “Damned sure I am. The Fall of The Mikaelsons. And guess what, the show has already started.”</p><p>“Marcel,” Hilda tried to say, holding up her hands in a non-threatening gesture. “Look, this is something we can talk about.”</p><p>“I never thought I’d see the day when Hilda Mikaelson tried to back out of a fight,” he said. “Why don’t you go home?” He looked around at the sirelings. “And I say that because I am a merciful man— something quite different from them.” He faced her once more. “Go to your daughters and stay out of the way. I wouldn’t snatch a mother away from her children when they’re not even a month old.”</p><p>Kol approached Marcel, standing beside his sister, trying to reason. “I know you're hurt. I loved Davina, too. And it would break her heart to see you like this.”</p><p>“Don’t mention her name,” snapped Marcel, jabbing his finger in his direction. “If it weren't for you, she'd still be alive.”</p><p>Kol knocked his hand down. “But she’s not. This is an insult to her memory.”</p><p>Marcel immediately shoved him back, and if it wasn’t clear before, it was obvious in that moment that Marcel had taken the serum, because he was able to send Kol nearly tumbling back into Elijah. With a growl, Kol leapt up, holding Papa Tunde’s blade to try and stab Marcel, but he wasn’t fast enough. Marcel caught his arm and yanked him closer, biting into his neck and making Kol let out an anguished yell. Marcel snapped his neck with ease and tossed him back, making the sirelings cheer.</p><p>Hilda and Elijah jumped forward, fists flying and legs jabbing to try and kick Marcel down. Klaus leapt in, but Marcel was easily able to knock Hilda back, sending her onto Klaus and shoving them both to the ground. Hilda was the first to recover, and she tried to aid Elijah, but to her surprise, it was he that pushed her back, not Marcel, and the next thing she heard was another pained yell from him— Marcel had bitten him. Grabbing Elijah, he swung him forward and sent him and Hilda crunching into a pillar, bringing down some plaster that slammed onto both of their heads.</p><p>Klaus growled, his eyes flashing amber as he bared his fangs, channeling into his hybrid strength. He and Marcel launched at each other, but a blur of red materialized between them, yelling, “STOP!”</p><p>“Rebekah,” breathed Marcel as the crowd went silent, the three conscious Mikaelson siblings staring at their youngest sister in shock.</p><p>“Hayley has Hope and Freya,” Rebekah told Klaus, holding out her arms to stop him from attacking Marcel. “Take our brothers and go now. Marcel will not hurt me.” She faced her lover. “Not if he knows what’s good for him.”</p><p>Hilda immediately grabbed onto Kol and sped away, and Klaus followed with Elijah. They stopped at a nearby street corner, and Hilda saw her phone had a text. “They’re at Lucien’s penthouse,” she panted, looking at Klaus before the two nodded at each other and ran with all their might to the front door.</p><p>“FREYA!” yelled Klaus as Hilda kicked through the entrance, dragging Kol beside her. With a look of horror on her face, she saw Alaric there with the twins.</p><p>“What the bloody hell are you doing here?” she demanded. “You could have been out of the city by now!”</p><p>“I couldn’t just leave!” he said, coming forward to help her bring Kol to the couch. “The girls started to fuss immediately, and then Hayley told me something was wrong—”</p><p>“I’m going to die,” said Kol as he woke up, making them stop talking.</p><p>“You’re not going to die,” Hilda said immediately.</p><p>Kol chuckled darkly, his face already beaded with sweat. “Now that sounds familiar. The same thing was said to Finn and Cami!”</p><p>“Calm down,” Hilda said, stroking his hair. She looked up at her older sister. “Lucien engineered his venom from the seven werewolf packs. That's the key to a cure, I know it. We just have to find out how to get to it.”</p><p>“That’s the first piece of a puzzle that we won’t be alive to solve,” panted Freya, and Hilda only just realized how pale she was. “I'm poisoned, Rebekah is hexed, and our brothers are bitten. We need three different cures to three different ailments, each of which could take years to find, and none of us will make it through the day.”</p><p>“I can go and find anything you need,” offered Alaric. “I can—”</p><p>“Stop it!” said Hilda, shaking her head. “Don’t even offer to go out there— we don’t know what other vampires are roaming through the city right now. There must have been nearly three hundred in the Compound!”</p><p>Kol started to whimper. “Hilly…”</p><p>She turned back to him, and brought her sleeve up to wipe the sweat off his forehead. “Shh, just calm down,” she tried to say. “It’s going to be fine.”</p><p>“No it’s not,” he said. “Maybe… maybe it’s fair that I pay for what I did to Davina.”</p><p>“Don’t you dare say that,” Hilda snapped. </p><p>“Just put me out of my misery!” Kol bellowed, making the twins start to bawl. “At least put me to bloody sleep!”</p><p>Out of instinct, it seemed Freya and Hilda shared a look of understanding. “Oh my God,” whispered Freya, holding her head. “That’s it. A Sleeping Spell.”</p><p>They didn’t get to immediately ponder on it. Klaus’s phone began to ring, and they all stopped to listen.</p><p>“Nik, it’s me,” said Rebekah urgently. “There's an army of your sirelings eager for blood. Marcel has them set to tear apart the city to find you, but after a brief chat, he's considered an alternative. Though I think it might be worse. He wants you to come back here and stand trial for your sins.”</p><p>“Before a jury of those who hate me the most?” he snapped. “Like hell I will.”</p><p>“If you don't, this mob will hunt you down. And given their current frenzy, I can't imagine they'll show any mercy to you or anyone standing in their way.”</p><p>Elijah shook his head as Rebekah hung up. “It's not a trial. This is suicide. Take Hayley, take Hope, get the hell out of the city.”</p><p>“No,” said Hayley firmly. “We won’t leave here.”</p><p>“NO!” yelled Kol, making the twins cry more as Hilda tried to soothe him more. “DAVINA! Please! Don’t leave me… Hilly— HILLY! Where are you?”</p><p>“I’m right here,” she said as Alaric tried to calm the twins down before they riled up Hope, too.</p><p>But it didn’t matter what she told him. He didn’t see her there anymore, and it became evident that the only way for them to be saved was to freeze time. With an ache in their hearts, Hilda and Klaus had shared a look, and when the night came to its end, they found themselves both in situations they never expected.</p><p>He in a dungeon with a blade of torment inside of him, and she curled up in the backseat of a car knowing that the lives of all of her siblings were linked to hers for the foreseeable future.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Alaric mumbled as they drove. “You look tired… you should sleep. You did all that work on the spell and getting them into the coffins for Hayley to hide them…”</p><p>“I’m fine,” she lied. “We’ll figure this out.”</p><p>She hardly believed herself. She didn’t know how long it would take to find the cures. She didn’t know if she and Hayley would manage it before Marcel killed Klaus. She had no idea when she would see Kol and Rebekah again. </p><p>All she knew was that there was now a target on her back. The vampires would realize in several hours that the Mikaelsons had not perished. They would come to find her and she needed to be ready to take them down before they could get her blood to locate Hayley, Hope, and the four coffins they had with them.</p><p>Her greatest fear in that moment was knowing that in order to ensure her siblings lived, she would need to tune back into the darkest parts of herself, and the last thing she wanted was for her daughters to get to know the cruel version of their mother.</p><p>And yet, Always and Forever rang in her head, letting her know that somehow, they’d survive this.</p><p>
  <em>Happy 700 pages! The Originals are all linked to Hilda, not Klaus, so that way he’s protected too in case Marcel tries to kill him. Hope you all liked (I know I rushed the ending to this season lmao, I wanted to move on already hehe). Comment for more! :)</em>
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<a name="section0065"><h2>65. Chapter 65</h2></a>
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  <em>A/N: So before I begin this chapter, I just wanted to make several points about what I’m going to write for this in-between period where TVD S7 &amp; 8 take place before TO S4. Normally, I am not one that likes to bend canon. I try to keep any major changes limited unless it directly applies to my OC. However, since Hilda’s part of the Mystic Falls gang through her relationship with Alaric, she’s gotta participate, and I just know that if the Originals had become bffs with the Salvatores and all of them, a lot of problems could have been avoided and solved more easily because after 1000 years of knowledge and fighting experience, you manage to figure things out pretty well. So I’m basically going to change everything that happened in S7 and S8 of TVD because one, I can’t stand Sybil (she’s hot though) and I just feel like the storylines were pretty bleh (still loved the action we got). I think they deserved better so I’m going to try and make that happen. Please bear with all the changes (obviously if you don’t want to read, then bye bye, idc). I know that some stuff might not make complete sense but I’m going to try and figure stuff out so feel free to ask questions. Really, I’m just trying to give Bonenzo and Steroline a happy ending because my last story was just so sad and I want there to be more happiness this time around!! Without further ado, here we go :)</em>
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  <em>April 13, 2014</em>
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  <strong>Hilda never thought she was going to turn into a stay-at-home mom.</strong>
</p><p>Yet, somehow, that was exactly what was happening.</p><p>It had taken every ounce of her being to not break down in the first weeks after leaving New Orleans. Alaric had tried to let her know that it was okay to be sad if she needed that release, but like the stubborn brat she was, she refused, and he just tried to subtly let her know that if she needed a good cry, he was there for her.</p><p>At first, she had busied herself making the house look amazing. The furniture was quite nice and the place really did seem like a simpler version of the Mikaelson Compound. But Hilda wanted to add more flair to it, and she had temporarily taken up a craze of decorating to make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible.</p><p>Alaric was perfectly fine with it. Dallas was already a new city he needed to get used to, and while he was becoming oriented with his job at the new college, it was comforting to know that he was going to return home to a very excited Hilda, two very happy babies, and a house that looked really appealing to the eyes. </p><p>She was coping the best way she knew how, and at least, she seemed to be enjoying the routine she made for herself. She cooked and cleaned to keep her mind busy, and whenever the twins weren’t sleeping, she was at their side reading to them and talking to them (this, she only did when Alaric wasn’t there. While he thought she wasn’t talking to anyone about her feelings, she was, just to two babies who couldn’t judge her for anything she said). Alaric would always make dinner once he got home, and they’d talk about his day to the twins, since Hilda insisted it would help them learn to talk faster if they included them in the conversation as if they were adults.</p><p>In order to keep herself from going crazy, Hilda often facetimed Caroline, Bonnie, and Hayley, using the familiar faces to keep her emotions in check. Hayley was on and off following leads to try and find cures, with Hilda contacting witches who could help, since she herself couldn’t be prancing about. She and Hope hadn’t been able to visit, but they were doing well, since Jackson’s grandmother Mary had been staying with them consistently since Hope was still fairly little.</p><p>After Rayna Cruz had been snatched up by the Armory, Caroline and Stefan had been able to relax. They had left Damon desiccated, since that was what he wanted, but they visited Texas often to try and keep Hilda and Alaric in the loop about everything. Caroline was often the one helping Hilda find cute accessories for the girls and the house, and it seemed that she was really enjoying being the twins’ unofficial godmother. She adored being around the girls and it was clear from the look on Stefan’s face that he knew that if he and Caroline got married in the future, they’d most definitely be adopting children of their own.</p><p>Hilda had even written a strong enough spell to stop the Armory from finding Bonnie, who they apparently wanted, which helped her remain safe, though she couldn’t risk visiting in person. Enzo had her hidden in his secret house, and everytime Hilda called so that she could check on her, it became more and more apparent that a romance was blossoming between the Bennett witch and the vampire that was protecting her. </p><p>At least, the growing friendship Hilda had with Bonnie, Enzo, Caroline, and Stefan helped distract her, while her talks with Hayley helped give her something to do when she wasn’t changing diapers and burping the twins.</p><p>After the first month had passed, Hilda had started to feel a lot better about being there, though she hated being stuck indoors. It was no secret that vampires were trying to locate her. Bonnie had been more than happy to help cloak the house, but it didn’t mean Hilda was free to prance around. The point of the cloaking spell was to ensure they couldn’t get to her or the twins. If they ever went out, they all went together. Alaric usually had a lethal weapon of some sort in his jacket, and Hilda would remain on high alert at every moment. But for the most part, she tried not to go out, which left Alaric doing all the grocery shopping, thus explaining why Hilda was so insistent on doing most of the cooking to make up for it.</p><p>Before Alaric had started his job that fall, he’d obliged to his parents’ wishes and invited them over, taking advantage of the fact that the house looked pretty incredible. He was skeptical of it, but he knew that he should at least let them meet the twins.</p><p>Hilda knew quite a bit about Alaric’s parents from what he’d told her. They were fairly average, they liked sports and fishing and just being normal humans. They knew nothing of the supernatural world, especially not the fact that their granddaughters were siphon witches and that Hilda was one of the Original vampires. </p><p>Despite their normalcy, she knew it was going to be a challenge to have them there. Alaric had gotten a decent amount of attention during his childhood since he had no siblings, but despite living comfortably, he never quite felt his parents had actually tried to be there for him. They were highly judgmental and overall, they just weren’t the people he liked to be close with. He had forged a newer family he liked better, and though Hilda saw nothing wrong with that, she knew it was a touchy subject for Alaric because he felt it was wrong of him to push his parents away, and yet he was well aware that his mental health would be terrible if he allowed them further into his life.</p><p>They had fixed up a room, preparing to host Ed and Dianne Saltzman for a week. They had arrived on a Monday (apparently, traveling on a Sunday was a bit too much to be asked of them). It was late in the evening when the doorbell had rang. Hilda donned a simple dress and had put the twins in cute little outfits to greet them, since Alaric had gone to pick them up at the airport (and presumably tell them whatever it is he wanted them to know about his living situation. Hilda suspected that this involved pretending that one, she was human, and two, she was the biological mother of the twins).</p><p>Hilda went to open the door, offering the elderly couple a smile as Alaric came in first with the luggage, which he carried up the stairs.</p><p>Alaric’s mother had immediately moved forward to hug Hilda and kiss her on the cheek, which took Hilda by surprise because one, she had no idea Alaric’s mother was taller than her, and two, she hadn’t been expecting such physical contact right away. At least a handshake and a hello would have been better for starters.</p><p>“Nice to meet you,” Hilda squeaked as Dianne let go of her.</p><p>“Oh my goodness,” the woman said, looking over her figure. “You haven’t aged at all. Ric says you’re… what did he say, Ed—?”</p><p>“Twenty nine,” came the gruff voice of Alaric’s father. He reached his hand forward to shake Hilda’s arm, squeezing her hand decently hard by human standards, but she hardly felt a difference from a normal handshake. “Damn. You sure you’re not sixteen?” he added as he shut the door behind him, flipping the lock.</p><p>“I get that a lot,” Hilda said awkwardly, leading them into the living room where the babies had been laid on a soft blanket on the floor so they could wiggle around. “My whole family, we just kind of… look way younger than we are.”</p><p>“Oh, yes, Alaric told us you had seven siblings?” said Dianne. Hilda hadn’t even needed to try to answer the woman’s question, because as soon as she saw the twins, she let out a squeal and went over to them. “Awe, look at the little dears! They’re so tiny!” She knelt down beside them, and her husband followed, each picking up one of the twins gently.</p><p>“Put their bags in the guest room,” muttered Alaric as he came beside Hilda. “I’m pretty sure my dad brought rocks or something because that suitcase was way heavier than what I was expecting.”</p><p>“Maybe he brought some airport alcohol,” she teased, wiggling her eyebrows.</p><p>Dianne started to laugh as she held up Lizzie, who was beginning to whimper. “Ric, this one looks so much like you! You named her Elizabeth?”</p><p>“Yep,” said Alaric as he and Hilda went to sit on the couch to supervise. “And the one you’re holding, Dad, her name is Josette.”</p><p>“This one looks just like her mommy,” observed Ed, which made both Alaric and Hilda share an awkward look, though neither parent noticed.</p><p>“So where are you from?” asked Dianne curiously as she sat on the other couch, looking at Hilda. “You have a British accent.”</p><p>“I’m from England,” Hilda lied, since that was the easiest thing to say. “But my family lives mostly in New Orleans.”</p><p>“So… seven siblings. And your parents… that’s a pretty big family.”</p><p>Hilda bit her lip. “Yes, it is, but we managed.”</p><p>“Are they all still alive?”</p><p>Alaric shot his mother a warning look, but Hilda was unfazed (for the most part). “Er, my parents passed and so have two of my brothers,” she answered simply. “Right now, they’re all really busy…”</p><p>“Too busy to be here with their nieces?” huffed Ed.</p><p>“Dad,” said Alaric sharply. “I told you, they let us stay with them in New Orleans for several days. They have… jobs. It’s what people do. They’re um… gonna visit whenever they can.”</p><p>“How has it been since the operation?” asked Dianne to stop Ed from asking another question of his own. “You look amazing, Hilda. I mean, when I had Alaric, I still looked pregnant for almost a year afterward.”</p><p>Hilda blushed. “It’s been alright, I’ve been listening to all the stuff the er— doctor has said.”</p><p>Ed started to chuckle. “Those doctors, eh? Funny types of folks.”</p><p>There was an awkward silence, and Lizzie started to fuss. Hilda moved forward and offered to take her, but Dianne didn’t seem to want to let go. “Oh, don’t worry, dear, I can calm her down,” said the woman, bouncing her gently, though this really only made Lizzie cry more.</p><p>“Um, Mom, I think you should hand her over,” said Alaric tensely. “Lizzie really only calms down when she’s with Hilda.”</p><p>“I’ve been a parent for thirty nine years, Alaric, I’m sure I can manage and give you two first-timers a break,” Dianne insisted. Lizzie wailed louder and louder, and Hilda tried to control her temper.</p><p>“I just think she might need her bottle,” she said, not wanting to snap at the woman.</p><p>“You can get it, dear, I’ll give it to her—”</p><p>“Mom,” said Alaric more fiercely than before. “Please, can you just give her the baby?”</p><p>Dianne looked mildly offended as she handed Lizzie to Hilda. Almost instantly, the little girl stopped crying.</p><p>“I’ve got you,” said Hilda quietly, rubbing her back. “Mama’s got you.” She looked over at Alaric as if saying, <em>‘Thanks for intervening, because otherwise, I might’ve snapped your mom’s neck.’</em></p><p>Ed handed Josie over to Alaric, then looked between Hilda and Alaric as if trying to find something to criticize. “So how come you ended up with him?” he asked a bit loudly. </p><p>Alaric glared at him, and Hilda let out a weird cough. “We just met from er— work,” she said, hoping her story matched up with whatever Alaric had told them. “Both history nerds… it all went er… smoothly from there.”</p><p>The audacity of Ed surprised Hilda more than words could describe. “Well, yes,” he said, “but I mean, how did you end up letting him knock you up so fast?”</p><p>Hilda stifled a very uncomfortable laugh. “It… was unplanned, but a… blessing all the same… that’s what they say, at least…”</p><p>“Imagine meeting a girl and right away, you put twins in her,” muttered Ed, looking at his son almost with disdain. “Talk about getting ahead of yourself.”</p><p>Alaric looked more displeased than Hilda had ever seen him. “I think we should get started on dinner,” he said, getting up.</p><p>“What, the conversation take a bad turn for you?” said Ed, as if he didn’t understand why his son seemed livid. It was as if he thought it was perfectly normal to pry so much. “They’re just simple questions, Alaric, your girlfriend has no problem answering them. Oh, and on that note, when are you gonna propose? You can’t just get a girl pregnant and not marry her.”</p><p>Hilda decided to take the fall for this. “I asked him not to propose,” she lied. “I really don’t like the idea of weddings and honestly it’s not a problem. We’re still good at co-parenting, legality changes nothing. They’re our daughters and we’re going to do the best we can to raise them.”</p><p>Ed hummed. “I knew you were from a rich family,” he mused, making Alaric glare at him even harder. “Rich girls are always okay with delayed proposals because they have better stuff in their vanities anyway.”</p><p>Hilda frowned. “It’s really not—”</p><p>“What’d you say your last name was?”</p><p>“Mikaelson, but—”</p><p>“Well, that makes sense, Hilda Saltzman sounds terrible compared to Hilda Mikaelson.”</p><p>Hilda tried to pretend like she wasn’t about to lose it. “I think the surname isn’t a problem either, sir,” she tried to say steadily. </p><p>“Well, if you’re from a rich family, it is a problem. You can get a lot out of those who know that Mikaelson means money.”</p><p>“Dad.” Alaric was gritting his teeth, Hilda could hear it. “Are we really going to do this again?”</p><p>“Is it a problem for me to ask about the finances going into my granddaughters’ upbringing?”</p><p>“I already told you, we’ve got the money stuff worked out, we really don’t need to discuss it.”</p><p>Ed held up his hands as if he was being egged into a fight. “You don’t need to get mad, Alaric, I was just wondering.”</p><p>The dinner they had afterward was quite tense. Hilda and Alaric sat with the twins between them to give them an excuse to tune out. Ed and Dianne were each talking and talking nonstop and it became more and more evident why Alaric disliked being around his parents so much. They had an opinion on everything and they wanted Hilda to know exactly what they thought before they asked what she believed in. They seemed quite appalled when they learned that she was alright with the girls not being brought up as Catholics.</p><p>“But where will they get their faith?” gasped Dianne. “Why, Ric, didn’t you tell her about all your experiences? His troop leader with the boy scouts was the brother of the priest at our church and it was just such a wonderful experience, all the boys got to take catechism classes with the girls from the partnering girl scout troop, and they got to get their sacraments alongside each other…”</p><p>“I just think it’s right for them to choose what they believe in,” said Hilda simply. “I don’t want to force them into a religion from childhood. When they’re older and they can understand the different types, they can select from there.”</p><p>“So you’d be alright if your daughters wanted to be Satan worshippers?” asked Ed bluntly.</p><p>Hilda drew a deep breath. “I never said I would just let them into something that might hurt them. Obviously, Alaric and I are going to help them be informed and we’re not going to let them join religions without first helping them think through the process—”</p><p>“But what you’re saying is that as long as they’re well informed, you’d let them?”</p><p>“Dad,” Alaric snapped. “She’s just trying to say that we’re going to let them choose what they want to do with their lives. We’re not going to be overly controlling and make them align themselves with our beliefs. They get to choose what they want to identify as and what they want to believe in. There’s nothing wrong with that.”</p><p>Ed and Dianne didn’t look all that pleased, but they changed the subject. “So what do you work as, Hilda?” asked Dianne.</p><p>“I was still studying before I had the girls,” she said quietly. “When they’re old enough, I might get a job as a Chemistry Professor of some sort. Teaching seems fun when it’s a subject I know a lot about.”</p><p>“But for now, you’re going to be a stay-at-home mother?”</p><p>She nodded, and Ed snorted. “Well, of course she can be a stay-at-home mom, Dianne, she’s rich, she doesn’t ever need to work.”</p><p>Alaric slammed his fork down a bit too hard, and Hilda knew instantly that the twins were startled by it. She dove down to pick Lizzie up just before she started to cry, holding her to her chest. “I still don’t get it,” said Ed. He seemed to have a great deal more questions to ask, and he couldn’t resist speaking. “Why are you living in this small house in Texas of all places when you could be on a tropical island?”</p><p>“We went over this,” said Alaric in an exasperated tone. “I wanted to work here and Hilda wanted to be close enough to her family. We want the girls to have a normal childhood. We can vacation with them when they’re old enough to appreciate it, and we still intend for them to learn multiple languages.”</p><p>“Well what about the house?”</p><p>“I don’t like big houses that much,” admitted Hilda. “I liked this one because it was fairly small. It has all the space we could possibly need.”</p><p>“Why don’t you two sleep in the same room?”</p><p>Alaric immediately covered his face to mask a grunt of annoyance. Dianne looked eager to have this answered, too. “Oh, yes, that’s right, I was wondering, too,” she urged. </p><p>“The postpartum stuff hit hard,” lied Hilda. “It’s a bit troublesome for me to sleep because I keep having to move around to alleviate pressure, and I just feel better if I’m not smacking Ric repeatedly in the middle of the night.”</p><p>“That’s not good,” said Dianne earnestly. </p><p>Ed huffed. “Does that mean you two haven’t even gotten intimate again?”</p><p>“Did you <em>really</em> need to ask that?” Alaric sighed.</p><p>“It’s part of a healthy relationship! Your mother and I love our granddaughters already but it’s going to be another thing to raise them if you two end up getting into a fighting stage with custody battles.”</p><p>“I assure you, that’s not going to happen,” said Hilda darkly.</p><p>“Well, maybe not, because with your money, you can afford a lawyer that’ll get you full custody immediately—”</p><p>“That was a lovely meal,” said Alaric loudly as he got up and gathered the plates. “Thank you, Hilda, for cooking.” She awkwardly smiled up as he went to put things in the sink. </p><p>“You know what?” she suggested. “I bet we’re all really tired so we should just all go up to bed.”</p><p>Thankfully, Dianne and Ed didn’t argue. They bade their goodnights and went up. Hilda got the twins and took them up into Alaric’s room to be put in their cradle, and he walked in behind her once he had shut off all the lights downstairs.</p><p>“I swear,” he muttered angrily. “I can’t do this for more than a week at a time, at this age. They always have something to say. And I guess when I was a kid, I didn’t really notice it much, I just thought it was cool that they talked a lot. Then, I started to realize how little they cared about my interests unless it was something they could criticize. My dad especially. I’m surprised they didn’t make any comments about my appearance.” He gestured toward his face, since he had been letting his hair grow out again and he hadn’t shaved his beard in awhile. </p><p>“Well, if it’s any consolation, at least your parents aren’t trying to murder us,” said Hilda as brightly as she could, though on the inside, she was still fuming. </p><p>“They’re like the human versions of Mikael,” muttered Alaric. “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have said yes to them spending the whole week. I just felt kind of bad because I said no to the two weeks…”</p><p>“Don’t apologize,” she said, looking up at him. “It’s not your fault. We’ll manage it, I promise.”</p><p>He rubbed the back of his head and cast her a weak smile. “Um… sure.”</p><p>Hilda tried to remain optimistic. “We will. Goodnight, Ric.” She dipped over the cradle to kiss the twins on the head. “And goodnight, you two.”</p><p>“Um… Hilda?”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“If things get worse… would it be wrong if we compelled them to leave earlier?”</p><p>Hilda tried to suppress a smile until she realized he was grinning at her. “If you want, I’ll do it. You know I don’t mind.”</p><p>And three days later when Ed started criticizing Alaric’s job and asking too many specific questions about their relationship, that was exactly what they did.</p>
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<a name="section0066"><h2>66. Chapter 66</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>March 17, 2017</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>There always came a time of unrest. </strong>
</p><p>The past three years had been fairly uncomplicated, though lying in a state of wait definitely put a damper on several moments throughout.</p><p>After the chaotic visit of Alaric’s parents, he had started work officially, and time seemed to move incredibly fast. The months had gone on, and Hilda felt like she was being supersped through each year every moment she blinked. Though their cycle was fairly repetitive, it didn’t mean it went any slower.</p><p>Hilda had remained a stay-at-home mom, often consulting Hayley, Caroline, and Bonnie for advice. She got to see only pictures of Hope as she grew, and when she wasn’t alongside her daughters, she was on her laptop contacting anyone and everyone she could for information about the seven wolf packs, since Valerie Tulle had agreed to siphon Rebekah’s curse off of her. At the very least, Rebekah was cured, and Hilda was working on an antidote for Freya, but they weren’t close to finding a way to save Elijah and Kol. The original bloodlines were scarce, and finding a pure wolf to supply venom seemed impossible. </p><p>Yet, in the midst of yearning for her siblings, Hilda got to see her daughters grow up.</p><p>Every moment fascinated her. They began to talk and walk fairly early on in their lives. They giggled and said the silliest things to get Hilda and Alaric to pay attention to them. They were well behaved, for the most part, and their favorite time of the day was in the evening when Alaric got home and they got to eat dinner in the outer patio, under the sunset. They had conversations with each other without even talking, and it reminded Hilda of herself and Kol, when they were younger. They did everything together and perhaps the most interesting thing was that when they knew they did something wrong, they took the blame for each other even though it was clearly a team effort. </p><p>They were curious about everything. Since it was unsafe for Hilda to go out into the town, she was homeschooling them, and they were learning very quickly, which meant their progress brought along questions that sometimes, she couldn't answer right away.</p><p>Every time Caroline and Stefan stopped by, they bombarded them with inquiries about their lives. They knew about vampires and they weren't even remotely scared, they were just intrigued by the fact that they were so nice. To them, vampires were just friendly people with no heartbeats to listen to through their toy stethoscope.</p><p>They loved to call their Aunt Hayley so they could chat with Hope, who was much happier now that the twins could talk with her. Hope was fairly shy, but it was easy for a conversation to be carried out because the twins had many potential discussion topics, and it excited them more to know that Hope could do magic (though they knew they weren't supposed to tell people). </p><p>They were introduced to magic early on by Bonnie and Valerie, who were helping Hilda walk the twins through an explanation of how they would come to use their powers, because they wanted to ensure that they didn't accidentally break anything when they first started trying out their abilities.</p><p>“Like this,” said Valerie, taking Hilda’s hand and siphoning a bit, which made the Original wince. “What you need to note, girls, is that when you concentrate on taking magic from somewhere else, you can hurt the person you do it to. Your Aunt Bonnie and I are going to try and find a way for you to practice this without hurting your Mama, alright?”</p><p>The twins nodded, and Hilda knelt in front of them, taking their hands. “My darlings,” she said gently, “we tell you this because we want you to understand that you were born with a gift. Your Aunt Valerie is going to teach you how to use it, and maybe you’ll get to see her friends Nora and Mary Louise, too, when it’s safe for them to come back here. We want you to learn about siphoning so that you can use your powers without hurting yourselves or others.”</p><p>Lizzie and Josie nodded their heads in unison. “I’m sorry, Mama,” said Lizzie quietly. The reason Hilda had discovered that the twins could already use their powers was because one night when the girls had been arguing about one of their dolls, Lizzie had accidentally siphoned from her.</p><p>“It’s alright, baby, I know you didn’t mean to,” said Hilda, moving forward and giving them each a kiss on the forehead. </p><p>It broke Hilda’s heart knowing how much her siblings were missing out. She even wished she could see Elijah, because she knew the twins would have more questions for him once they saw how often he wore a suit. She wished Freya and Rebekah could be there to help them learn about magical herbs. She wanted Kol to be able to play sports with them, and she wanted Klaus to be able to watch them speak with his daughter. There were so many fun and kid-appropriate stories to be told, and she had refrained from bringing it up because she knew that it would only make her sad.</p><p>She tried to remain optimistic. After all, things were going well between her and Alaric.</p><p>As time had gone on and each had come to terms with their own pains, they had found solace in knowing that the other was consistently there for them. Every night once they put the girls to bed, they would talk sometimes for hours about Alaric’s job, about solutions for Hilda’s siblings, and about how they could continue to ensure that the girls were growing up healthy and happy. They drifted onto other topics often, and it left them laughing until they could scarcely breathe.</p><p>They each remembered that they had explicitly told each other than in three years, they’d still love one another. This remained true. Neither had spoken up about it, but it was evident that their feelings grew more and more each day, and it was only a matter of time before one of them spoke up.</p><p>Though they had yet to tell the girls about Jo because it was too complicated for them to understand, they both subconsciously tried to do what they thought Jo would have liked. They knew she would have loved to introduce the girls to the world of medicine, and one of the first dolls the girls had was a doctor Barbie. They ensured that the twins never felt like abominations for having different powers, and they told them bedtime stories about a princess named Jo who had saved so many lives. Hilda wanted them to know the name and recognize the stories of her accomplishments in the army when they were old enough to learn who she really was.</p><p>They missed her most of all. Alaric had worked through his guilt and grief with Hilda's help, but even then, every time he saw his daughters, he imagined Jo standing there and giving them advice about their playthings. Lizzie had her eyes more so than Alaric's, and Josie looked like a perfect blend of Alaric and Jo, though their newer human friends seemed to find a resemblance between Josie and Hilda, likely only because of the dark hair and eyes.</p><p>Alaric wanted to think that Jo would have liked for him to move on. He wanted to, truly, because he knew that Hilda was the one waiting for him to be ready. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, he wanted to kiss her and cuddle up to her in the night, stroking her hair or just listening to her gentle breathing. But he kept hesitating because he felt he was hurting Jo. He wanted to convince himself that this wasn't true, and yet, in the back of his mind, he couldn't stop thinking of it, and it kept him from pulling Hilda into his arms every time they bade each other goodnight.</p><p>He supposed he was subconsciously waiting for the perfect moment.</p><p>One evening, Hilda and Alaric were still up, trying to fix one of the newer baby dolls they had purchased for the twins. Somehow, the doll had malfunctioned, and Alaric was hunched over the dining room table as if he were assembling a bomb, trying to put the wires in the right places.</p><p>“If someone were to take a picture of this moment,” mused Hilda playfully, “they’d put it in a history textbook and pretend you were a scientist in World War II.”</p><p>He laughed. “Does it really look that terrible?” He wiped the sweat off his forehead. “You do it, then, maybe you’ll have better luck.”</p><p>Hilda scrunched up her nose. “We agreed I was going to be here for moral support. I don’t know how to work with wires. That’s all you.”</p><p>Alaric rolled his eyes and closed the back compartment of the doll, pressing the button. “Oh, damn it,” he said when it didn’t let out a fake cry. "I still messed up..."</p><p>There was the sound of running footsteps, and the twins came running in, giggling and coming up to the table. “Is it fixed yet?” they asked in unison.</p><p>“Not yet, my darlings,” said Hilda, going to scoop them up. “Your Papa still needs a bit more time, but it’ll be fixed soon.”</p><p>“You said the surgery would only be a few hours,” Lizzie whined.</p><p>“And you said we’d have her for bedtime!” chimed in Josie.</p><p>“Yes, but remember, sometimes doctors need another try,” said Hilda, letting them see that Alaric was going to try and fix the wires again. “Either way, it’s past your bedtime, let’s go.”</p><p>They squealed their protests as she began to carry them to their room. “You still need to brush your teeth,” Hilda reminded them. “Otherwise, if you don’t clean them right, the tooth fairy won’t want to give you money when it comes around.”</p><p>The doorbell rang, and Hilda stopped. She looked back at Alaric, who immediately got up, going to one of the hidden cabinets where he had weapons. They certainly weren’t expecting a visitor. Hilda beckoned for the twins to be quiet, and sped them to her room, setting them down. “Wait here, and be very, very quiet,” she whispered, closing the door to their room before speeding back down.</p><p>Hilda looked through the peephole as Alaric moved forward with a crossbow, and she let out a soft gasp before throwing open the door, no longer afraid of who was behind it. “Damon!”</p><p>The vampire stood in front of them looking just as he had three years ago. “Nice to know I got the right address, Hilly Billy,” he said with a grin as Alaric handed Hilda the crossbow, walking right out and engulfing Damon in a hug. “Aw, don’t get all soft on me, Ric.”</p><p>“It’s been three years since I last saw you, I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to hug you,” said Alaric pointedly.</p><p>“What happened?” asked Hilda as Alaric invited him in. “Who woke you up? Stefan wanted to, before, but he decided he didn’t want to go against your wishes…”</p><p>“Stefan woke me up,” said Damon as Alaric closed the door behind him. “When was the last time you spoke to Caroline?”</p><p>Hilda frowned. “This morning. She said she and Stefan would stop by tomorrow for breakfast.”</p><p>“Yeah, well, that’s not happening anytime soon.” Damon held out his phone. “Apparently, someone released Rayna Cruz from the Armory.”</p><p>“What?” gasped Hilda. </p><p>“Stefan’s scar opened up and the first thing he did was wake me up. We don’t have a lot of time— Caroline and Stefan should have met up by now, and they’ll be running again.”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips and looked at Alaric, who nodded and pulled out his phone. “Tell them to come here,” said Alaric. “We had a plan ready if this ever happened, we just didn’t say anything to them because we weren’t sure Stefan would agree.”</p><p>Damon clapped his hands together. “Wonderful, what the hell does that mean?”</p><p>“I figured out how to do a Transfer Spell on the scar,” said Hilda, going to the kitchen where she had her notebook stored. “Valerie mentioned it in passing. We can transfer it to another vampire and then kill Rayna Cruz as many times as it takes. Bonnie and Enzo found out that she has the lives of Eight Everlastings, meaning there are only so many times she can die. The only problem is, whoever’s been marked will die too, so unless we manage to transfer the scar, we can’t try to kill her, otherwise it's goodbye, Stefan.”</p><p>“Valerie also mentioned that the spell wouldn’t work unless it was done on a blood relative,” added Alaric as they heard the little girls giggling in Hilda's room. “Okay— I think I’ll go put them to bed and be right back.”</p><p>He trotted away, and Damon moved to observe the house, a serious look on his face. “Does that mean you’re transferring the mark to me?”</p><p>“No,” said Hilda. “I’ve figured out a way around that but we have a very limited window of time to accomplish it. Did you tell them to haul ass over here?”</p><p>“Yes.” He pointed at some of the drawings on the refrigerator. “What the hell is that?” He was gesturing toward a very colorful and confusing portrait.</p><p>Hilda smirked. “It’s them with a unicorn. Trust me, I know it looks nothing like a horse." She started to scribble some other notes, holding her phone out to text Valerie to meet up with them, too,</p><p>“No way,” said Damon, looking over her shoulder. “You’re inviting the Heretic chick here, too? Have she and Caroline not killed each other yet?”</p><p>“No. They actually helped her get Nora and Mary Louise somewhere safe— the Armory almost snatched them up. She’s been visiting to help with the twins. Trust me, there’s no bad blood there. She just needs to be the one to perform the spell.”</p><p>“Are you ever going to explain how you’re going to transfer the mark to someone who’s not me?”</p><p>Hilda held up a paper. “This is a Mimicry Spell. I just need some of your blood, and another vampire. It’ll be complicated, but if Valerie channels me, she can perform the spell to have the other vampire’s blood resemble yours for less than fifteen minutes. Technically, in those minutes, they’re Stefan’s blood relative, and the mark can be transferred, and then we can kill Rayna. I know it’s selfish to say, but as long as he doesn’t die, I don’t care who does. Rayna and all the marked vampires will be gone, and that’s that.”</p><p>Damon shrugged. “I don’t think it’s selfish. I feel the same way. So long as it’s not my brother, I could care less. I just wanna know who’s gonna be the victim.”</p><p>Hilda remained emotionless. “Well, it’s a lot to explain in the moment, but vampires have been watching this house for three years because of something that happened with my siblings. They can’t get close enough, but I can sense them, and I know exactly who’s been trying to lure me out. There is one particularly foul vampire that Klaus turned in 1904, just after we first heard of Rayna Cruz. The vampire lured her into New Orleans. Nothing happened to us, of course, she’d be an idiot to try and go after an Original. No amount of power could grant her the ability to take us down with that flimsy sword. That particular vampire has never been marked, but I swear, he deserves it. He’s one of the worst ones I’ve ever met and I’ve seen him on the street corner practically every day since 2014.”</p><p>Damon smirked. “I wasn’t doubting you, Hilly Billy. It’s just cool to see you back in dark mode now that you’re a mama wanting to protect your babies. Well, they aren’t babies anymore, are they? Toddlers, more like it.” He frowned pensively. “Are you sure this is going to work?”</p><p>“I know a thousand years worth of magic, it better work. Otherwise, we’ll need a plan B. If only you had a hoard of siblings willing to sacrifice themselves for Stefan. You know, I was thinking, Nora Hildegard looks like she could be your sister, honestly.”</p><p>“Please don’t ever say that again,” groaned Damon. “Trust me, I noticed it when I first saw her standing next to my mom.”</p><p>Within the hour after Alaric had managed to put the twins down, the house was ready to welcome Caroline, Stefan, Valerie, and the unconscious vampire that Damon had snatched up at Hilda’s request.</p><p>“What’s this fool’s name again?” asked Damon with a grunt as he dropped the man on the floor.</p><p>“Evander Duquesne,” said Hilda venomously. “Distantly related to a vampire called Alistair Duquesne, another one of Klaus’s sirelings. They’re both manipulative jerks who seem to have put themselves in charge of the vampires who are trying to get my blood in order to find my siblings.”</p><p>In that moment, she didn’t care about who she could be hurting. Her only concerns were that her siblings needed to stay hidden until she and Hayley could find the cure, and that she wanted to ensure it was safe for her to at least take her children to the park without needing to look over her shoulder and risk them witnessing bloodshed.</p><p>At the very least, all of Hilda’s time indoors had prevailed. She had nothing better to do than to make the most accurate spell possible. With Valerie channeling Hilda, they were easily able to complete the blood mimicry spell. To test it out, Hilda had her perform another spell to ensure the composition was the same. Just minutes later, they began the transfer spell, and Stefan started to grunt in pain.</p><p>“Just breathe,” urged Caroline, stroking his hair as he writhed slightly, trying not to be too loud, since the twins were sleeping. “Just a bit longer…”</p><p>There was a flash of light, and Stefan let out a gasp. Burning over Evander’s heart was the ‘X’ of the Phoenix Stone, which had now faded from Stefan’s chest.</p><p>“Wonderful,” said Damon, yanking Evander up. “Let’s get this guy far from here while I go kill Rayna Cruz a good few times until she runs out of lives.”</p><p>“I’m coming with you,” said Valerie, handing the notebook back to Hilda. “With magic, it will be easier.”</p><p>Damon didn’t seem all that thrilled, but given what Valerie had just done, he wasn’t in any state to object. “Okay, V-Card Valerie, let’s go,” he said, dragging Evander out the door.</p><p>“I suggest you stay here for now,” Hilda told Caroline and Stefan. “Rayna can’t get in and if she tries, she’ll be met with resistance from me.”</p><p>Luckily, it didn’t come to that. Alaric and Hilda were able to stay up fixing the baby doll without worrying about slaughtering the psycho Huntress. Damon called about a few hours later letting them know that Rayna was set to die soon enough.</p><p>“We trapped her in this really deep hole,” he said in delight. “We killed her once, then she lit on fire and came back, so we killed her again, so as soon as she stops phoenix-ing back, we’ll return to lovely little Dallas. She was already in Texas— my guess is that she sensed Stefan was here and got occupied with all the other vampires here waiting for Hilda to step out of her cocoon.”</p><p>“Tell you what,” said Alaric. “As soon as she’s permanently dead, we’ll have a barbecue or something. I’ll invite Bonnie and Enzo, too.”</p><p>“Is that safe?” asked Caroline worriedly. “I mean, now that we’re getting rid of Rayna, the Armory is going to turn all their attention on Bonnie.”</p><p>Stefan put his arm around her, leaning tiredly on her shoulder. “I’m sure she’ll be fine here for a few hours.” He slumped onto her lap and drifted off to sleep, making Caroline laugh softly. “I guess that spell took a lot out of him,” she noted.</p><p>It didn’t take much longer for Damon and Valerie to finish having their fun with Rayna. They were the perfect people for the job— Valerie was getting her revenge after Rayna killed Beau, and Damon was getting his revenge for Stefan. They returned early the next morning, when the girls were just starting to wake up.</p><p>“I think I’m going to take off work today,” yawned Alaric as they helped the girls get dressed. “My students will be thrilled if I cancel class…”</p><p>“It’s so funny to me how you Professors can just do that without at least two days' notice,” teased Hilda. “‘Hello, all, I’ve got an Original, four young vampires, a Heretic, and three witches in my house right now, so I’m not going to show up to teach.’”</p><p>Alaric laughed. “Well, this is one of the few times that we can all get together and just relax. I think Bonnie might encourage us to invite Matt, too, but I think he’ll be skeptical about bringing Penny, so I expect that’ll be a no.”</p><p>Hilda sighed, picking up Lizzie, who was still half-asleep. “Well, Penny can meet the girls another time.” She watched as Alaric picked up Josie, whose eyes were wide open, making a puppy face to her mother. </p><p>“Mama,” she said quietly. “Is Aunt Care here?”</p><p>“Yes, princess, she is,” she said, which made Lizzie straighten up, rubbing her eyes. "Papa," the little girl asked, stifling a yawn. "Did you fix the doll?"</p><p>Alaric nodded. "I did. She'll be waiting for you out there with your aunts and uncles."</p><p>The girls had a pleasant time with all the visitors. They were talking and talking without stopping, enjoying the new faces and showing off their fixed doll. They could clearly see that Alaric was significantly happier now that Damon was there, which meant they kept coming over to him and asking questions, which he answered with surprising gentleness.</p><p>"Why does everyone have a ring?" giggled Josie when she saw that every vampire in the room had a daylight ring. </p><p>"It protects me, Mini Jo," said Damon, showing her the ring. "Just how your mommy and daddy protect you."</p><p>Lizzie ran her fingers over the ring. "I like blue. Like my eyes, it matches."</p><p>"It does match your eyes," agreed Damon, holding up the ring to see how it fit with Lizzie's eyes. "Let's see, what to call you... Mini Ric. You're just like your daddy."</p><p>Lizzie and Josie looked at each other and giggled. "Ric," they said, looking up at their father. "That's what Mama calls our Papa."</p><p>"That's a nickname, sort of like the way they call you 'Liz' and 'Jo.'"</p><p>"That's what Hope calls them," said Hilda, leaning back into the couch and watching as the girls went to Bonnie and Valerie to show them that their doll had 'powers' too.</p><p>Of course, they should have known that their time for relaxation was going to be cut short. They had gone out into the backyard for a barbecue, celebrating the fact that Rayna was gone, but Hilda had suddenly tensed. "Get inside," she said, standing up. "Someone's coming."</p><p>No one needed to be told twice. Alaric picked the girls up and moved inside, the other vampires passing the threshold as a fairly young vampire walked up, looking incredibly dazed.</p><p>"I have a message," said the girl, staring blankly at Hilda. "The Armory requests the presence of Bonnie Bennett to open the vault. If she doesn't arrive, Hilda Mikaelson's location will be compromised."</p>
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<a name="section0067"><h2>67. Chapter 67</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda let out a snort, gritting her teeth before ripping the woman’s heart out.</strong>
</p><p>She already knew that Alaric had led the twins away, and she had no problem yanking the woman up, gesturing to Valerie. “Care to incinerate it?” she said quietly.</p><p>The Heretic nodded and wove her hand, letting the body and heart catch on fire before it vanished.</p><p>“My location will be compromised,” huffed Hilda lowly as she marched into the house to wash her hand. “What kind of bullshit is that? Who says that to scare someone?”</p><p>Enzo winced. “I think it’s Alex.”</p><p>“Your relative, Alex? The one with the sister in the mental hospital?”</p><p>Bonnie nodded. “I knew this was going to become a problem. I met Virginia once— she was insistent on me not opening that vault no matter what Alex wanted. But Alex is insistent, and I bet after losing Rayna Cruz… she needs to move on to the next thing on her agenda, which is me.”</p><p>“That’s not happening,” said Caroline immediately. “You are not opening that creepy vault.”</p><p>“Alex thinks her sister Yvette is somehow still alive there,” said Bonnie. “I highly doubt it. It’s been years. There couldn’t possibly be a way to survive in there, and Yvette was no witch. She says she’s been hearing her calling for help.”</p><p>“Is this Alex woman delusional?” snapped Hilda, seeing Alaric coming back, without the twins. “Why would Yvette have been silent for so many years if she was still alive?”</p><p>“That’s what I tried to tell her,” sighed Enzo. “Bonnie and I spoke of it— whatever creature Virginia thinks is in there is not something that needs to be let out. It’s trying to get out.”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “Well, why involve me? What does Alex think she has on me?”</p><p>“She knows you’re the one that wrote the spell for Bonnie to be protected,” said Enzo, trying to think. “She found that out from another vampire— I know that for certain, I killed him. She knows they’ve been trying to get you, and I reckon she knows that they haven’t been able to get too close. They know where you are but unless they are given the exact coordinates to walk to the front door, blindly, they can’t even hope to get near the border of the spell. I bet Alex knows that Rayna’s downfall was under your influence.”</p><p>“Is this Alex’s way of doxxing me?” sneered Hilda. “Maybe in another situation, I wouldn’t have cared, but if they get anywhere near here, they’ll hurt the girls, Ric, and anyone who stands in their way of getting my blood, and if they accomplish that, they’ll find Hayley, Hope, and my siblings…”</p><p>“It’s not going to happen,” promised Bonnie, coming over and putting her hands on her shoulders. “I’ll do it. I have a plan.”</p><p>Hilda stared at her incredulously. “Are you <em>insane?”</em></p><p>“Listen, Hilda,” said Stefan, “none of us are going to let you or your family get hurt. Let’s at least hear Bonnie out.”</p><p>“With all due respect, no,” said Damon. “I agree with Hilly Billy. Bon-Bon, they’ll kill you if you try to double cross them. You’re better off not going anywhere near the Armory.”</p><p>“Wait,” said Alaric, holding his hands up. “Let’s at listen to both sides. We’ll figure out the best plan from there.”</p><p>Bonnie bit her lip. “I go to them. I open the vault. They’ll want to go in to investigate and I’ll be free. On my way out, I’ll do a spell to seal the entire building, and they’ll get what they want, but they’ll never be able to get out, and neither will the creature in the vault.”</p><p>Hilda shook her head. “That’s too risky. We don’t know how the creature looks like. How it moves. This thing is clearly not a vampire, werewolf, or witch. It could be invisible, for all we know. What if it gets out before you seal it in? I say this— I’ll go talk to Alex about it, and I’ll kill anyone and everyone in there.”</p><p>Damon started to laugh until he realized that no one else found this funny. “Seriously?” he said, trying to mimic Caroline. “Bonnie didn’t spend three years hiding from them to just waltz up to the front door and put herself in danger. And no, Enzo, don’t say you’ll accompany her, because I bet Alex is ready to take you down, too.”</p><p>“We can’t just let Hilda go alone,” said Valerie. “We don’t know the full extent of the Armory’s abilities. They might manage to take you down.”</p><p>Alaric seemed to stick to this point. “We don’t know the full extent of the Armory’s abilities,” he mused, pressing his palms together. “Then… we make it seem like we’re cooperating.”</p><p>They all turned to look at him. “Hilda and I can go together,” he offered. “I’ll pretend to be really interested in the stuff in there— that won’t be hard at all, and I don’t mean that sarcastically. I’ll be the curious human Professor who just wants to keep his kids safe. If they make it a problem, I’ll say I’m interested in helping them, or something. Meanwhile, Hilda can pretend that she’s going to help Alex plan for the spell… she can say that this isn’t a spell Bonnie can easily do by herself, and Hilda needs to plan for it first. That’ll make sense. Then, we can take them down.”</p><p>“You’re forgetting one major detail,” said Stefan. “They could be several steps ahead. How do you know they didn’t already give the location of this house to a vampire? What if they’re expecting an attack, and have a program running to send out the coordinates if they don’t log into a system by a certain time.”</p><p>“When did you become a computer nerd?” said Damon incredulously, which made Caroline roll her eyes.</p><p>“He’s right, Damon,” she said. “If they took the time to send the note, they’ve probably taken preventative measures.”</p><p>“So we hide the girls,” offered Enzo. “The location of my safe house couldn’t possibly be compromised with all the spells we have on it. Bonnie and I can keep them there. This house will be left vacant and if it turns out Stefan was right, then you just don’t come back to it.”</p><p>“You can’t just ask them to leave their house,” muttered Damon. “Look, Ric, let’s just go in there, kick ass, and come back and have some bourbon once your kids are asleep.”</p><p>Hilda held out her hand. “A better plan would involve combining those ideas,” she murmured. She looked at Stefan and Caroline. “How much do the two of you know about hacking?”</p><p>Caroline smirked. “Well, we had to learn a lot while we were in hiding…”</p><p>“How about this,” said Bonnie. “Enzo and I take the girls, Valerie should come, too, in case they try to get her too. Caroline, Stefan, and Damon can be on standby near the Armory in case anything goes wrong. Ric, you know some stuff about computers and all that… when you’re pretending to be a potential recruit, you can try to figure out if anything has been sent. Hilda just needs to stall Alex long enough to give enough time to rule out any preparedness for the doxxing. Then, have at it. I’m not going to object to them dying, because they would have died if we’d done it my way, too. If there are a lot of them in there, I can show up after Hilda’s done, and I can just do a small protection spell on myself and Ric while Hilda fights it out.”</p><p>_</p><p>It was very clear they were being suspicious, but Alex was either too preoccupied with the vault, or just too oblivious to notice.</p><p>“Wow,” Alaric had said as soon as they drove into the Armory, located in Grove Hill, Virginia. “That place is massive.”</p><p>“And about to be covered in blood,” mused Hilda.</p><p>Alex had greeted them with an almost inconspicuous smile. “I see you’ve arrived without Bonnie Bennett.”</p><p>“No offense to Bonnie,” said Hilda flatly, “but she doesn’t know as much about magic as I do, and I guarantee no one else in your facility understands it like me, so with all due respect, Alexandria, I’m going to be the one preparing the spell before Bonnie shows up.”</p><p>Clearly, Alex was too eager to get the vault open to argue. “Of course,” she said. “Come in.” She let them into the main room, which was filled with dark artifacts. For the first time in her life, Hilda recognized nothing in the room, but Alaric seemed to know exactly what everything was.</p><p>“Oh, my God,” gasped Alaric as soon as they went in, going toward a table and looking at an ornate jewel with dark sapphires on the edges, a clear gem in the center, and a golden sheen with patterns on it. “Lapis De bello. This was given to Charlemagne by his first wife.”</p><p>“That was before my parents were even born,” said Hilda in amazement, peering down at it. “I can’t say I’m familiar with the story, though.”</p><p>Alaric grinned like a kid on Christmas morning. “Legend has it, this allowed him to conquer half of Western Europe. I spent three years searching for this thing, a long time ago. Through every tomb, every monastery throughout Europe, I couldn't find it. I gave up. I convinced myself it didn't exist.” He scoffed in amazement. “And there it is.”</p><p>Hilda couldn’t help but smile, seeing how much he was enjoying this. Alex watched as he began moving around, looking over at the other artifacts. “Half of these things should’ve been lost to history,” he murmured. “The other half shouldn’t even exist. How is it that these guys made it all disappear?”</p><p>“I see you know your artifacts well,” said Alex, sounding impressed. Hilda noticed that she was acting significantly nicer as she moved closer to Alaric, and with a low growl, the Original sped between them, keeping Alex from putting her hand on Alaric’s shoulder.</p><p>“Why don’t you show me the vault?” she said venomously. “It’s the whole reason we’re here. One of your other helpers can show Alaric the items. Not that he needs it, you know, he’s intelligent and he knows about everything here and I’m certain he’d rather enjoy this moment without someone like you putting a damper on it.”</p><p>Alex would have been a fool to challenge Hilda, especially when she saw how dark her eyes got. “Of course,” she said, leading her away. They moved down several tunnels toward a massive door at basement level that clearly marked the entrance to the vault. It looked filthy and rusted, and a worn out keypad was beside it, seemingly useless in getting the door open at the present moment. As Hilda began to observe the door, Alex pulled out her phone, and Hilda, sensing the movement, looked back and stared at her suspiciously.</p><p>“I’m just telling one of my guys to go give Alaric a tour,” she said, holding up one hand in surrender. “I’ll even show you.”</p><p>Hilda cast her a cheeky look. “I don’t need the evidence, darling, because you and I both know that if you try to hurt him, you’ll find your sister’s mutilated body on your doorstep before I kill you, too. Let’s see how trustworthy you are.”</p><p>Alex was becoming more and more uncomfortable, which informed Hilda that she had her wrapped around her finger. “Tell me about this vault,” she beckoned. “Enlighten me, Alexandria.”</p><p>“The Armory’s vault was founded in 1882 by Dalton St. John, Lorenzo’s uncle, and my great-grandfather. This happened not long after Lorenzo’s father founded the building. Dalton took a group of men into the vault, and when he returned, he became a ruthless killer. I assume I don’t need to go over this, but three years ago, my sister Yvette was trapped inside after my other sister, Virginia, had a Bennett witch seal the vault. Obviously, you can see why Bonnie is the person we need to perform this spell.”</p><p>“I understand,” said Hilda, vaguely, still examining the entrance. She pushed and pressed her palm on the door, sensing that the spell was quite strong. She paused to listen for a moment, to see what Alaric was doing.</p><p>“Damon, it’s me,” she heard him whispering. “I took out two guards, they don’t have the location, it was a bluff. The only problem is, they do have Alistair Duquesne in their contacts. Which means…”</p><p>“He’s going to come for Hilly Billy. No offense to your girlfriend, but couldn’t her brother have better sirelings? A.K.A. more copies of me?”</p><p>“You can’t blame all of Klaus’s sirelings for trying to take down the Original family after they were unlinked. By now, I expect Marcel Gerard told anyone and everyone about what happened in the Compound that day. Half of those vampires have witch allies, and they’ll have figured out that they must all be linked to Hilda if Elijah’s sirelings haven’t died. She told me more about Alistair last night. Klaus compelled him to kill his wife, child, and everyone living in his estate. The only survivor of the estate was a man that wasn’t there the night it went down, which is how Evander Duquesne came to exist. Alistair knows that if he gets to Hilda, he gets to Klaus. He wants him to suffer, and killing his siblings would be the best way to bring it about. They all know that Klaus is still alive.”</p><p>Hilda tuned back in to what she was supposed to be doing, pretending she had been murmuring to herself under her breath. “I think I have an idea which spell would be most efficient,” she announced, seeing that Alex was watching anxiously. “We can go back upstairs to write it, and I’ll call Bonnie.”</p><p>“Sure,” said Alex with a smile. They walked back up, and Hilda stopped to listen again, but this time, she heard nothing. Once they had crossed the doorway back into the main room, Alex went rigid, seeing the bodies of three guards on the ground, dead.</p><p>Hilda snapped her neck before she could say anything, and snatched up her phone before it could shut itself off. “Would you look at that?” she muttered, seeing the text messages between Alex and Alistair. “Typical… he was going to pay her for this.” She scrolled up a bit, before going tense. “Shit—”</p><p>She immediately sped down the only possible corridor Alaric could have gone down, finding Alistair holding him by the throat. </p><p>“Move, lassie, and I break his neck,” said Alistair darkly. “Already fed him my blood.”</p><p>Alaric was trying to get away, but he wasn’t a match for the vampire holding onto him. Hilda stared at Alistair before scoffing. “Seriously? You want to provoke a fight with me? Did you learn nothing from Niklaus? Surely he told you about his psychotic little sister.”</p><p>“All I need is your blood,” he told her, pressing into Alaric’s throat. “I’ll even do you the mercy of sparing your daughters.” </p><p>Hilda moved back, spreading her arms. “Why don’t you come and get it? Be a man. Don’t hide behind a human and threaten me. Is it because you know you can’t beat me?”</p><p>Alistair chuckled darkly, and to her surprise, let go of Alaric, taking out a knife that seemed to shine in the light near its tip. “We’ll see how well you fare against this.”</p><p>Hilda had no idea what it was, and she simply laughed. “I’ll use it to cut you into ribbons, and I’ll show it to my brother on the day I free him.”</p><p>Alistair jumped forward, and Hilda was ready. With ease, she was able to knock him back, slamming him against the nearest wall and catching his arm as he tried to stab her, which sent the knife clattering to the floor. She flipped it behind his back, dislocating his shoulder, and Alistair dove down, trying to swipe her legs out from under her. He didn’t succeed, of course, but he managed to grab the blade, stabbing it into her leg and making her howl in pain, her eyes watering as she crumpled down. He pulled the blade out, revealing it was now drenched in her blood. </p><p>“I came prepared,” he taunted. “All it took was a small dip in Marcel’s venom.”</p><p>Hilda couldn’t even speak. She gripped at her leg, seeing it was already turning a sickly red. Alistair smirked and saluted, beginning to speed away, but suddenly, he collided with Damon, who shoved his hand through his chest, tearing through his heart and letting the knife fall onto the floor once again.</p><p>“That was anticlimactic,” he said thoughtfully as he moved to offer Hilda a hand, but she didn’t take it. Alaric immediately scrambled over to her, seeing she was staring down at her wound in shock.</p><p>“Get Valerie, now!” he yelled at Damon, who understood the urgency of the moment and sped off.</p><p>“I’m an idiot,” she said shakily, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the venom began to make its way to her heart. “I’m actually an idiot… I should have known he’d come prepared…”</p><p>He turned her to face him. “Listen to me. It’s going to be just fine.”</p><p>“No, it’s not!” she said. “I-I’m going to die, and all my siblings will follow along. Ric… I’m gonna miss the girls’ childhood…”</p><p>“Hilda, shut up,” he demanded, shaking her a bit. “Stop. You’re not missing anything. Breathe. Valerie is going to come, and she’s going to siphon.”</p><p>“But she tried that with Kol and Elijah! It doesn’t work! This venom can’t be siphoned!”</p><p>“Think, whatever was on that blade was a very minimal amount compared to whatever is in Elijah and Kol’s bodies right now. She should be able to get it all out.”</p><p>“Should?” Hilda gasped. “And what if she can’t? What if—”</p><p>“Listen to me,” he insisted, holding her cheeks. “You’re not going to die. I’m not going to let that happen. This was my fault, I should have realized Alistair was a vampire when I saw him, I should have yelled, I should have gotten the blade before he picked it back up—”</p><p>“He would have killed you! You’d be a vampire, and we don’t exactly have that stupid Silas cure anymore! You would hate being a vampire!”</p><p>“But I’m not a vampire, and Alistair didn’t get your blood, and you’re going to be just fine. Tonight, we’ll order takeout, alright? Just a calm, casual dinner with everyone at Enzo’s place.”</p><p>“I’m not going to make it to tonight! This venom will get in my heart soon and I’ll die! Or worse, I’ll have to get into Freya’s Chambre de Chasse to tell her that I failed at protecting them, and she’ll need to be woken up to transfer the anchor from me to Nik so that we don’t all die, and that might just get him killed, even if there was a way to do it without physically being beside him—”</p><p>“I swear to you, it’s not gonna happen—”</p><p>“I’ve watched Kol die twice! If I end up responsible for the third time—”</p><p>“He’s not going to die, and neither are your siblings—”</p><p>“I’ve never died, Ric, I don’t know what I’ll do if I can’t ever see you and the girls again—”</p><p>“Hilda, you’re not dying— no one else is dying today, do you hear me?”</p><p>“We told Finn and Cami that they weren’t going to die, and they did, and now—”</p><p>“Can you two <em>please</em> quit bickering like the unofficially married couple you are?” </p><p>They looked up to see Damon and a very out of breath Valerie, who dropped down beside Hilda and began to siphon from her leg, making the Original cry out in pain.</p><p>Valerie let out a sigh of relief as she siphoned. “Just in time. I’ll need to release this magic, though, I can’t keep it in for too long. It feels so… dark.”</p><p>“Could you reinforce the spell keeping the vault closed?” offered Alaric as he caressed Hilda’s hair, propping her up so that she could watch Valerie healing her. </p><p>“That’s a good idea,” agreed Valerie. “There we go, Hilda, you’re all good…” </p><p>Hilda let out a shaky sigh, seeing the redness on her leg was gone. She spluttered out a thank you before leaning into Alaric’s chest, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she had survived, and her siblings were still safe.</p><p>Valerie had done as suggested, and had reinforced the spell on the vault. The two vampires and Alaric watched as she chanted over the door, releasing the magic, which made the building shake, drowning out all sound from within the vault.</p><p>“What’s with the shaking?” said Alaric worriedly, his arm still around Hilda. “Last time that happened was because a powerful witch had died.”</p><p>“It must just be the magic,” said Valerie, not thinking much of it. “It was quite dark for having been Ancestral magic. It likely caused a small release of power, nothing to be worried about.”</p><p>“Um, ‘release of power’ sounds concerning,” said Damon bluntly.</p><p>Valerie shook her head. “Really, it never amounts to anything. Some witches say that it opens portals, especially when done in places brimming with magic. It’s never been proven.”</p><p>“I’ve heard of that, too,” mused Hilda. “A very, very long time ago. This was back in the 13th century. Kol and I learned about this very specific way to attempt Resurrection Spells, which rarely worked. Covens would go to a place marked by magic— a site of sacrifice that’d been blessed over the years— and they would perform spells to bring back those who died recently, usually children. It’s how they named the Nexus Vorti— those incredibly rare events that cause a release of power. It was very infrequent for the ritual to work, and it’s not practiced anymore in this modern world because of multiverse theories and such that make witches skeptical about trying to open a door to another realm. Additionally, it’s almost never thought to be to a good realm. I could have tried this to bring back Cami and Davina, but it’s very very unlikely they are in Hell, which is where these portals are thought to lead to. We can’t see it, but it might be here.”</p><p>Damon snorted. “That wasn’t comforting at all.”</p><p>“It’s just theories,” said Hilda with a light shrug. “It’s never been confirmed. No witch was able to understand how the portals worked. One shaman I spoke to long ago thought that one would need to be inside of it to break through, meaning it was impossible for our side to breach that connection unless the desired person was already waiting. This made sense the one time they managed to resurrect a little boy who’d died in his mother’s arms of fever. Now… even if there was a way for someone to be in a hypothetical portal, it would take a long time for them to break through unless they were a supernatural with above average abilities.”</p><p>Alaric laughed lightly. “Well, all the dead supernaturals I’ve known to be evil enough to potentially reside in Hell are below average, otherwise, they’d still be alive.”</p><p>Hilda let out a sigh, leaning into him. “Let’s get back to our girls. I could really use a hug after today.”</p><p>They walked away without the faintest idea that a portal <em>had</em> opened, and someone had heard everything they said.</p>
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<a name="section0068"><h2>68. Chapter 68</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>For three months, Hilda and Alaric resided in the Armory.</strong>
</p><p>It wasn’t because they thought their house was unsafe, and it wasn’t because they liked the place (because they didn’t, not as a home). Rather, it was due to the fact that Hilda was certain Alaric would have gone insane if he had to leave behind all the artifacts before cataloging them. </p><p>“What?” he had asked three months prior, when she’d suggested they remain there for a bit. “Are you serious?”</p><p>“I know that look,” she said pointedly as she held the sleeping twins up against her chest. “Your mind is in overdrive and you won’t get any proper sleep unless you get the chance to look through things at a good pace and organize everything.”</p><p>Moments like these were what made Alaric feel thankful that he had Hilda by his side. No one else had ever understood his love for history this much. Jo, Jenna, and Isobel had all respected it, but they hadn’t tried to indulge in it for his sake. When it came to Hilda, he could talk to her for hours about one topic and he’d find that at the end of his makeshift lecture, she’d still be listening and would be ready to ask clarification questions as if she were his student. She never looked bored, in fact, her pupils dilated the most when he was talking about something he enjoyed. It made her happiest to see him in his element.</p><p>Once, he had kept her up until past two in the morning ranting about how excited he was for a certain lesson to come up for his students. Despite feeling tired, she’d propped her head up on her fist and gazed at him like he was serenading her, and when he realized the time and apologized profusely despite the fact <em>he</em> was still not tired out, she started to note the interesting parts to show she’d been listening, and they hadn’t ended up sleeping at all. </p><p>Thus, they had decided to make the Armory their home for the next months. Caroline and Stefan had gone off on a proper, relaxing vacation, while Valerie had gone to meet with Nora and Mary Louise, who were making plans to get legally married. Enzo, Bonnie, and Damon had come to be their ‘roommates,’ since Enzo technically owned the building, and Damon and Bonnie were using its resources to try and figure out how to wake Elena up, which involved heavily consulting Hilda to figure out the best spells to try. They had to take it little by little, because they feared that any slight mistake would leave Elena permanently dead.</p><p>Hilda was thankful to have Bonnie there, because not long after they had settled in, the twins had begun having trouble with their magic.</p><p>It had been gradual, at first. Things had started to float near the girls and follow them around wherever they went. Crayons became like ducklings that trailed along behind their mother, and sippy cups stopped obeying the laws of gravity. Hilda and Alaric hadn’t been concerned until one morning, they’d heard a tremendous crash, and they’d run into the twins’ room to see that their beds were now floating, too, and had slammed into the ceiling.</p><p>“Girls!” said Hilda, scooping them up and pulling them back before the beds fell back onto the floor, creating another loud crash. “What happened?”</p><p>“We didn’t mean to!” said Lizzie immediately, her blue eyes filling with tears, thinking she was in trouble. “I-I just wanted to show Josie t-to…” she started to cry.</p><p>“Oh, princess, I’m not mad at you,” said Hilda, pulling her into a hug as Josie began to cry too. </p><p>Alaric picked Josie up, rubbing her back. “Just tell us what happened,” he said soothingly. “We’re only worried because the beds could have hurt you. You remember the story about monkeys jumping on beds? They got hurt. It would have been worse if the bed jumped onto you.”</p><p>Lizzie sniffled, pulling away from Hilda and wiping her eyes. “I-I got mad,” she whimpered as Hilda brought her sleeve up to dry her tears. “I-I wanted… wanted a bunk bed…”</p><p>“Your Papa and I can fix you a bunk bed,” offered Hilda. “But when you’re older, because you two still wiggle like little worms and we don’t want you to fall.”</p><p>Lizzie began to bawl louder. “I’m s-sorry, Mama.”</p><p>“You didn’t do anything wrong, baby, I know you can’t control it,” said Hilda, holding her hand up. Lizzie looked at it before pressing her palm against her mother’s. “What do I say whenever you have trouble with your feelings?”</p><p>“T-Tell you,” the little girl whispered. “C-Cause you understand.”</p><p>“That’s right,” she said, pulling her into another hug. “I know it’s not easy in this place. We’re going to see if maybe your Aunt Bonnie can help, okay? I don’t want my little princesses getting hurt.”</p><p>Josie patted Alaric’s chest. “Why, Papa?” she asked, her brown eyes wide. “Why can’t Lizzie control it as much like me?”</p><p>Alaric sighed. “Well, you two are twins, but you’re still different, and those differences aren’t just how your eyes and hair look. Magic is done differently by twins, too. We’re going to help you. If you feel sick, if you feel sad or bad, you tell us, please.”</p><p>Josie nodded. “Okay, Papa,” she said, wiping her own eyes as Hilda picked Lizzie up.</p><p>“I want to be calm like Josie,” said Lizzie quietly as Hilda cast Alaric a worried look.</p><p>Their solution was that Hilda and the twins would spend more time outdoors, which was safer in Virginia than in Texas. Bonnie was more than happy to go on long walks with them, and the two women would answer all the girls’ questions about nature and the place they were in. Enzo had figured out, in their brief absences, which particular rooms were neutral magic zones, and those rooms became places where the twins could play and sleep, since it kept them from doing any accidental magic. Every weekend, Hilda and Bonnie sat down with the twins in another room where they could access magic, and the twins were allowed to siphon from the walls in order for them to start learning a few basic spells. Hilda had suggested they learn a simple Healing Spell first, since it would come in handy if they were ever hurt. From there, they progressed little by little, and the siphoning problem seemed mostly solved, and they struggled less with control as they tried honing in on their magical skills.</p><p>And in those moments where they could be more relaxed, Alaric was at Hilda’s side.</p><p>“I know I’ve been distant,” he told her one night when he brought a bottle of bourbon to her room. “I’m sorry. I’ve tried alphabetizing and taking pictures of everything so that I can keep track of it more easily.”</p><p>She waved her hand to show that it was alright, then took the glass he offered her. “Don’t worry. I’m just glad the girls get to see you more often. They were always asking for you whenever you were at work. Now that it’s summer, well, it’s even better. I was thinking we could take them swimming soon. It’s time they learned. I was also thinking… they’ll need to be enrolled in school soon. I just worry that it’ll do more harm than good. If they’re struggling with control… they might struggle with focusing and listening to the teacher…”</p><p>“I wish there was a better place for them to go to,” mumbled Alaric, sitting beside her and leaning back into the wall, pouring himself a drink then handing her the bottle. </p><p>“There are witch schools, but they’ve never been tailored for siphons,” Hilda mused, pouring herself only a little bit before setting it down on her nightstand. “If anything, I could keep homeschooling them and we could try to enroll them in other activities so they meet kids their own age. I’ll start studying up on things, it shouldn’t be too hard, elementary school curriculums are fairly easy.”</p><p>“What’s Hayley done with Hope so far?” asked Alaric curiously. “She’s almost two years older than the twins.”</p><p>“She’s homeschooled her, too. It’s too unsafe for them to go out. Hope may be able to do magic, but her blood can also be used to track my siblings, and if she’s seen out and about… someone could snatch her up and hurt her.”</p><p>Alaric sighed. “I wish this was easier. As soon as your siblings are healed… we should try to arrange for Hope and the girls to see each other as often as possible. How often do a tribrid and siphon twins end up becoming cousins? They’ll need each other.”</p><p>Hilda closed her eyes, trying to visualize it. “I can just imagine it. Klaus teaching them all to paint. Elijah and Hayley, married, and they can teach them music. Kol and I will help Freya teach them more magic. Rebekah will be the favorite aunt, I bet, they’ll always come to her when they have problems. Maybe… we’ll bring Davina and Cami back. Kol and Klaus will marry them. Kol, I believe, has been swayed to like children a lot more. He and Davina might adopt a young orphan witch. Klaus and Cami… I can picture it. They are so perfect for each other. Finn… I can even imagine Finn being the uncle that always brings trivia to the table for the girls to learn about.”</p><p>“Do you think that Finn would want to come back, if you brought Cami and Davina?”</p><p>“I-I admit, I don’t know. I was thinking the other night about Jackson, too, and I just wonder… if that’s what he’d want. I could be completely wrong in these intentions— maybe Cami found peace and maybe she’s with her brother again and doesn’t want to come back. Davina, I know, would want to. Finn… only if he were human again. And Jackson… I don’t know. There would be problems with Elijah and Hayley again, and he, too, must be at peace by now, and I’m not sure people can be drawn back from there.”</p><p>“Do you think that portal stuff is… actually true? Do you think there might be theories you could make on how to bring someone out?”</p><p>“Every Resurrection Spell is a sort of portal, but it’s so much easier when one, you’re in the right location, and two, you’ve gotten it done quickly. The Ancestral well is right in New Orleans, and Davina was only recently dead— bringing her back was easy. And before, with Genevieve and the Harvest girls… the time was different but again, the Ancestral well was there. We don’t know where peace is located, if it’s even in this world. We don’t know if we’re accidentally opening a portal to Hell, since the Other Side no longer exists. Portals might not even be real. It’s been three years and I just… don’t know if Cami and Davina are strong enough to come back, even if they want to. I feel as though it would take a lot of willpower, some of it with evil intention, too, because the 13th century portals I mentioned are essentially dark magic. It’s unnatural to try and bring people back. Bargains need to be done, footholds need to be established… it’s complicated to explain because we simply don’t know if any of it is true. Hypothetically, let’s say Cami was right here in the Armory and a portal opened the day Valerie did the spell. Maybe she tried to get out, but she was only a normal vampire, a young one, too, and she’s got only good intentions. Any spirit that is controlling the portal would not deem to let her pass.”</p><p>She shook her head, leaning onto his shoulder. “I just don’t know, and it aches, because there are so many things I wish I could do to save people, and I just can’t.”</p><p>“You’re doing better with it than anyone else I know,” he said, putting his arm around her. “You used to always see yourself as this monster, and look at you now. Our girls adore you and admire you so much. You’ve done everything to protect them, and you’re trying to do right by others who deserved better than what they got. Anything you set your mind to, I know you’ll accomplish it, Hilda.”</p><p>The Original smiled up at him. “I couldn’t have managed it without you,” she murmured. “The whole… becoming a better person. I used to be… the villain. A ruthless Mikaelson who could care less about who she hurt. With pain and loss came this… this sort of light. You helped me into it and helped me understand that I didn’t need violence to be happy, which is what I previously thought because I felt so out of place in my own body. You showed me I could be safe and in bliss and feeling normal, for once. I haven’t had a major episode in three years because of you. You calm the symptoms down and help me feel like I’m in control of my own mind. In that sense, I feel like I became a more heroic figure. So thank you. Thank you for being here with me and helping me feel like I’m in control of my emotions.”</p><p>“And in the same manner, you’ve made me feel happy when I thought I could never find such good in the world,” Alaric told her, taking her hand and turning her to face him. “There’s something I want to say…” he paused, and drew a deep breath before lacing his fingers with hers. “I love you, Hilda Mikaelson. I loved you three years ago, and I love you now. I want to be with you. I’m ready.”</p><p>She didn’t know what to say at first. Licking her bottom lip, she looked down at their linked hands, a blush already having rose to her face. “The day I knew I loved you,” she whispered, “was the same day I tried to break things off. You didn’t want it to happen, and neither did I, but rather than insist until I gave in, you said something I’ve never forgotten. <em>‘Because I care about you, I respect your choice.’</em> You’re the first person who’s ever respected my choice every time, without fault. Even Kol sometimes tried to argue and made me sway my opinions. You never forced me into anything. You understood that I was afraid and you let me do what was healthy for me at the time. You stood by my side and you’ve been a wonderful father and co-parent these past three years. Only in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d become a mother. And in those dreams, I always wished I had a partner like you. At the time, I didn’t know it would be you. I’ve loved you for five entire years, and every day that I see you talking to our daughters… that love grows so much stronger.”</p><p>He tilted her face up to look at him. “The day I realized I loved you,” he whispered, “was the day I died, when Elena turned into a vampire. You couldn’t see me, but I was there, watching you and Damon talking to me at my grave. You opened up and that day was the moment I truly knew that you were someone special in my life that I never wanted to lose. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Hilda.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “If you’ll have me, I’m ready. I want this. I want to be by your side for however many years I can be.”</p><p>“Then I’m yours,” she whispered. “I’ll be your girlfriend, your partner, your lover… whatever you want to call me.” She tugged at his shirt. “Kiss me, Ric. Kiss me like the first time.”</p><p>He brought his lips onto hers, bringing back the memories of the gentle first kiss they had shared so many years ago when the veil had dropped, and Hilda had been able to see Kol and Alaric after weeks of non stop grieving. He didn’t try to push her boundaries, he simply let her be in control, and it made her feel so much better to know that he was, and always had been, the respectful person she needed at her side. Some might’ve said it was the bare minimum. But for Hilda, who had never really had positive experiences when it came to relationships and intimacy, it was everything, and she knew that she only ever wanted him for the rest of her life.</p><p>She moved her hand to his chest, and he set his glass of bourbon aside, pushing her down onto the bed and making her gasp quietly. He pulled back, and she looked into his eyes before nodding. “I’m not afraid,” she whispered. “Please…”</p><p>It had been worth seven years of waiting. Hilda had torn through his shirt, and he’d started to kiss her neck as he removed her clothes little by little, giving her a chance to stop him if she wanted to. She didn’t. She ground her body into his, and when they came together, she let out the most incredible noises he’d ever heard, though she muffled it by biting gently into his shoulder, drawing up some blood and making him groan in her ear. He was slow and steady, knowing that some part of her was still worried. He waited for her to let him know that she was alright before he did anything else, and it made it so much better to know that she was enjoying it so much. Every bit of experience he had was going to make sure this was something she’d never forget, and when he was too tired to go any longer, she took over, and he just about went to heaven at the sight of her on top of him. </p><p>During the early hours of the morning, they were still awake, holding onto each other and listening to the other breathe. Alaric was shaking slightly— his human body was not up to par with her Original vampire stamina, but she hadn’t minded, and had done her share of work to please him and return the favor he’d done for her. He let his hand move across her bare back, fidgeting and trying to calm himself down, because he still felt like he was cloud nine. Hilda had her head against his chest, one of her legs draped around his waist, most of her body still partially on top of him. She craned her neck up to kiss his cheek, and moved down to put his lips onto hers, eliciting a quiet moan from the both of them.</p><p>“I don’t want to get up,” whispered Hilda as sunlight streamed in through the singular window in her room. “But the girls will be up soon…”</p><p>“I can get them,” he offered, though he was just as unmotivated. He’d much rather stay here beneath her, since she’d moved to lay completely on top of him. </p><p>“I can’t stay in bed all day,” she whispered. “And if anyone’s going to get up easily, it’s going to be me.”</p><p>He let out a breathy laugh. “I know, I know, my endurance was probably a lot better years ago.”</p><p>“Don’t criticize yourself,” she chided. “It was perfect. I loved it.” She leaned in to whisper in his ear. “And I want more. Come back tonight, I have several ideas…”</p><p>She started to giggle as he used his remaining strength to move them so he was on top of her instead. “Or maybe <em>you</em>should come to my room,” he suggested, kissing her jaw. “Keep it balanced…”</p><p>“Does this mean we’re sleeping in the same room now?”</p><p>“I don’t know, does my wonderful lover, partner, girlfriend, baby mama, Original hottie want to share a room?”</p><p>Hilda started to giggle louder. “Damon is rubbing off on you with the nicknames…”</p><p>“Trust me, if he was rubbing off on me, I’d be calling you something a lot more explicit…”</p><p>She started to sit up, kissing him one last time. “Really, I need to get up. I told the girls we were going shopping today. They wanted a few new items to match Bonnie— they like her fashion sense a lot more than mine.”</p><p>They each took their time getting dressed, stealing shy glances at the other as if this was something new, as if they hadn’t made love for basically an entire night. They each went to their respective rooms to shower, and even after they got the girls and sat them down for breakfast, they were blushing and refraining from looking each other in the eye.</p><p>“Well, you two had fun last night,” announced Damon, wiggling his eyebrows once Hilda had gone out with the twins.</p><p>Alaric let out a groan. “Damn it. We didn’t even think of a Silencing Spell.”</p><p>“You wouldn’t have been able to do it anyway, you’d’ve had to ask Bonnie, and that totally wouldn’t have been awkward. You’re lucky she and Enzo are heavy sleepers, they heard nothing. Me, well, it felt like I was listening to a very erotic podcast.”</p><p>“Never say that to me again,” said Alaric, covering his face as Damon laughed.</p><p>“I’m kidding,” laughed Damon. “I couldn’t hear anything, I chose the soundproof room for a reason, Ric, I wasn’t about to be disturbed by the two couples living here. I just know it happened because I have never in my life seen Hilda Mikaelson look so flustered around you, not even after the first time you two tried to do it and her brother caught you.” He clapped him on the back. “So, are you and your baby mama gonna tie the knot anytime soon?”</p><p>“We’ve only just started an official relationship,” Alaric told him. “We’ll see how fast it progresses. Hilda isn’t the type to want to get married right away, or at all, maybe… I don’t mind. I just want her to be happy, Damon, and I’m not going to rush her into anything.”</p><p>“Technically, you’ve been dating already for seven years, just on and off. You’re ready for the marriage stage. Am I going to have to start calling her Hilda Saltzman?”</p><p>Alaric shrugged. “I don’t know. If I know her as well as I do, I think she’d rather stay as Hilda Mikaelson or jump for the Mikaelson-Saltzman surname. Whatever she decides is fine with me.”</p><p>Coincidentally, Hilda was thinking about the same thing as she and the girls moved through different clothing racks. The twins were giggling and pointing out different items, and at first, Hilda hadn’t been paying attention, until she felt a chill run down her spine. She knelt down beside the twins, and through her peripheral vision, saw someone was watching her intently, but she couldn’t make out the face as they walked into the next aisle. She pretended she was fixing their shoelaces, and sensed that several people were entering the store— all seemed to be vampires. </p><p>Hilda didn’t hesitate. She grabbed the twins and sped out through the back entrance, knowing she couldn’t risk heading to the Armory and revealing where they were staying in case the vampires didn’t know it yet. She came to a halt in an empty warehouse with a line of heavy boxes, and immediately put her hand over the girls’ mouths.</p><p>“Listen to me very carefully,” she said urgently, knowing it was only a short matter of time before the vampires realized she wasn’t in the store anymore. “Something is wrong. Remember what I told you to do when something is wrong? Listen to Mama and stay very quiet.” She held out her hand. “I want you to siphon just a little bit, and say ‘Invisique.’ When you do it, you’re going to go back there where those crates are and you’re going to hold hands, stay very quiet, and close your eyes. When it’s safe, you’ll hear me say our magic word, okay? But unless you hear that, don’t come out, and don’t open your eyes, no matter what you hear. If it’s been a really long time and you don’t hear anything, I want you to do the spell we practiced with your Aunt Bonnie so that you can contact your Papa.”</p><p>The twins nodded. They took her wrist and started to siphon, and in unison, said, <em>“Invisique.”</em> They disappeared from Hilda’s view, and she heard their little footsteps running to where she’d told them to hide.</p><p>Just seconds later, a hoard of vampires were all around her. She cracked her knuckles as one stepped forward. “Where is Alistair Duquesne?” the man snarled.</p><p>“Oh, I know who you all are,” she said boredly, though her heart was racing. If they were with Alistair, what if they had Marcel’s venom, too? “My brother’s sirelings.” She beckoned them forward. “Come at me. You’ll be walking to your death.”</p><p>They all pounced on her at once. Snarls and yells sounded into the air, but Hilda couldn’t afford to think of how scared her daughters would be, because if she didn’t get rid of the vampires, they could be killed. She slashed and tore through chests, swiping her hands wildly around to knock off some heads. She kicked and grabbed tight, snapping spines and knocking heads. As the numbers of vampires started to diminish, she realized that they didn’t have any venom, which was fine for her, because it meant she could unleash fully without having to worry about what would happen to her. The worst they could do was leave her covered in scratches.</p><p>When every single vampire was either missing their head, their heart, or had had a stake put through them, she looked down at herself, ignoring the twenty seven dead bodies around her. She was drenched in blood, and she shakily tried to wipe some off, to no avail. She settled for grabbing onto any piece of fabric that didn’t have blood on it (this turned out to be the shirt of one of the female vampires) and she wiped only her hands down. </p><p>“Girls,” she spoke softly. “Don’t open your eyes. It’s safe now— pizza rolls.” She moved closer to where they were. “Say, ‘Aspectabilis’ to let me see you again.”</p><p>She heard a shuffle and their little voices, and she was able to see they were huddled together, arms around each other, covering the other twins’ ears, eyelids still squeezed tightly together.</p><p>Hilda breathed a sigh of relief and came closer, taking their hands, glad that they were obedient enough to keep their eyes closed. “You did so good,” she said, her voice trembling. “It’s okay now.”</p><p>“M-Mommy,” Lizzie whimpered. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“I’m fine, baby, I’m happy you’re not hurt,” she said, bringing them to their feet. “We’re going to go home again. Don’t open your eyes yet—”</p><p>“Yeah, because otherwise, you’ll have to see your mommy covered in blood.”</p><p>Hilda whirled around to see Kai Parker facing her with a wicked grin.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0069"><h2>69. Chapter 69</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda staggered back, finding herself cornered.</strong>
</p><p>“So those are my little nieces,” mused Kai, smirking down and waving even though they had their eyes closed. “Aw… that one looks just like Jo.”</p><p>He took one step forward, and Hilda tensed. “Get any closer and I will rip your head off!” she spat.</p><p>“Don’t be so rude, Hilly Homewrecker,” he said, winking at her. “I just want to say hi. I mean, your side of the family is a lot worse and I bet they’ll meet them soon… if they manage to get out of that coma they’re in.”</p><p>Hilda didn’t know what to do. Should she risk attacking him? He could easily retaliate with magic and kill the twins if she stepped out of line. Reasoning with him sounded like a lost cause. Giving in to whatever he wanted was out of the question. The girls were whimpering fearfully, and Kai was delighted.</p><p>“Here’s how this is going to work,” he said, holding up his hands, making Hilda start to tremble as she tried to resist the Pain-Infliction Spell he was casting. She couldn’t let herself breakdown. “You’re going to get us all back to that new home of yours and you’re going to write a spell to make sure I can stay in this world. Thanks to your other Heretic friend, I got a slight foothold here that’s been growing for the past three months, but I’m not fully out of Hell. Bonnie can do the honors of performing the spell. If you try to fight, I’ll snap your twinsies’ necks and kill you, then by the time you wake up, your blood will have been used for a Locator Spell, and your siblings would be dead too, along with that shabby dude that was going to marry my sister.”</p><p>There was no way she could trust him. She wanted to fight, it was her natural response, but he flicked his fingers forward, and the pain became overwhelming. She held onto the twins protectively as her legs shook and she forced herself not to sink to the ground and scream. It felt like a thousand explosions were going off in her head and she couldn’t see clearly anymore.</p><p>“F-Fine,” she gasped, making him let up the spell. She needed to bide her time and figure out when to strike. She knew that if the twins weren’t here, she might’ve lasted against his magical influence and easily killed him, but placing her children at risk would have been reckless. </p><p>“Good girl,” he said, taking her hand and siphoning a bit, making her flinch in discomfort. “You know, before we get there, I gotta ask— how did Alaric manage to get in your pants? I thought you’d have higher standards.”</p><p>She didn’t answer, and sped them all to the doorstep of the Armory, feeling her heart ready to explode. She could hear the twins’ hearts were beating faster than normal— they clearly understood that someone was threatening their mother and they were scared, but they weren’t about to disobey her and open their eyes, either.</p><p>They stopped at the entrance, and Hilda let out a gasp. “Let them go in first,” she demanded. “Let them go somewhere safe and I’ll do whatever you want.”</p><p>“Fair enough,” said Kai with a shrug before yelling out, “Yoo-hoo! Someone want to come out here?”</p><p>The doors opened, and Kai’s hand moved to grip Hilda’s throat in a threatening gesture as Alaric, Damon, Bonnie, and Enzo stared in horror at the scene before them. </p><p>“Kai,” said Alaric, his face pale. Hilda stifled an anxious and fearful sob, and squeezed the girls hands. “Don’t look back,” she told them shakily. Run straight ahead to your Papa, and listen to whatever he says.”</p><p>The twins were clearly curious, but they listened, and ran to Alaric. To Hilda’s relief, Kai did nothing but watch, and Alaric quickly pulled them inside and out of sight.</p><p>“Isn’t this a cozy reunion?” said Kai pleasantly, looking over at Damon and Bonnie. “It’s been a long time. Nice to see that not much has changed. Elena’s still snoozing and you’re both still lame. Though, I don’t know <em>you</em>.”</p><p>Enzo was glaring angrily at Kai. Obviously, he’d heard of him from Bonnie. “You need to clear off, mate,” he said darkly. “You’re not welcome here.”</p><p>Kai squeezed Hilda’s throat, siphoning and making her cry out in pain. “I think I’m gonna stay,” he told him brightly. “I may be a Heretic now, but it’s still nice to have an Original battery at hand. Plus, I still have to formally meet my cute little nieces…”</p><p>“What do you want, Kai?” demanded Bonnie. </p><p>“For starters, I want you to die,” he said bluntly. “But, I’m willing to be chill if you and Miss New BabyMama here do something for me.” He grinned. “You up for it?”</p><p>Bonnie would much rather have watched him burn in acid, but she didn’t have a choice, knowing that Kai could very easily overpower them. </p><p>They let him come inside of the building. He held on tight to Hilda, whistling and looking around at all of the artifacts as if he hadn’t seen them before. “This place is weird, but I dig it,” he said thoughtfully. “Granted, I may be biased because I was roaming around here like a sort of ghost for three months.”</p><p>“Have you been lurking here like a creep this entire time?” said Damon darkly.</p><p>“Um, yeah,” said Kai, as though this was obvious. “I had nothing better to do. Not that I could do anything. I was just floating most times…” He shoved Hilda down into the nearest chair, then held up his hand defensively. “Bonnie, why don’t you girls sit here, and you vampires can go chill elsewhere.”</p><p>“Absolutely not,” snapped Enzo. “You—”</p><p>Kai flicked his wrist, and both Damon and Enzo collapsed on the floor, making Hilda and Bonnie both draw a sharp intake of breath. Kai laughed and faced them. “All this yammering and no progress,” he sighed. “They don’t know magic, so they’re automatically useless.”</p><p>“H-He wants a spell,” said Hilda quietly to Bonnie. “To… let him stay in this world…”</p><p>“Bingo.” Kai patted her head, making her tense. “Aw, loosen up, I thought you liked me.”</p><p>“What the bloody fuck gave you that impression?” she snarled as Bonnie stared at them, trying to figure out how to get them out of this situation. </p><p>Kai leaned down beside her. “I heard all about that chat you had with Ric, back when you were still pining for him.”</p><p>Hilda was still confused, and he rolled his eyes, pressing his hand into her shoulder and going into her mind, to the day that Alaric had told Hilda that Jo was pregnant, and that he had proposed to her. <em>(A/N: This was in Ch. 36! It’s been so long since then, wow…)</em></p><p>
  <em>“It’s not stupid to have feelings, Hilda,” Alaric had told her when he realized how overwhelmed she was by the news, despite her having said she was stressed because of her family. “You’re allowed to feel any way you want to feel and no one gets to change that about you. You were wronged so many times. You deserve so much better than what life has given you. You and Kol and even… even Kai, honestly. I’ve learned so much about understanding mental health since I met you and you’ve made me a better person. I can be there for my students in a way that a lot of other Professors can’t. I just hope that my support is good. If not, I will do anything I need to do to improve.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda half-smiled, more tears rolling off of her chin. “You’re wonderful, Ric, don’t worry,” she whispered. “And um, it’s nice to know that you and your future brother-in-law are making some slight progress.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Alaric laughed lightly. “I mean, I wouldn’t call it progress. You haven’t met Kai. He’s pretty childish. Very dark sense of humor. I think you’d like him, if he gets nicer.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda bit her lip. “Yeah,” she said jokingly, “I’ll take a fancy to him and become Jo’s sister-in-law. Bet that’ll be fun at reunions. You two with your teeny baby, perfectly calm parents, then Kai and I with our very morbid comments…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There was a tense pause. “You deserve better than Kai,” said Alaric in a hard voice. “He’ll fall head over heels for you but that man won’t treat you right, and you’ll just get hurt.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda furrowed her eyebrows. “Ric, I was just teasing…”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Don’t think about Kai like that, okay? Not even as a joke. He’s not someone you want to pursue. I don’t trust him and I don’t think you two ought to meet. You two together… that’s a volatile combination and it doesn’t bode well.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why?” she said hotly, her temper rising. “Think I’ll egg him on and make him worse? Yeah, I bet it does come off as dangerous, shoving an Original vampire psychopath in a room with a sociopathic Gemini siphon-turned-witch.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hang on, you know that’s not what I meant—”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What did you mean, then?” She knew she was overthinking but her anger was getting the better of her. “I thought you wanted me to be happy, Ric. So what if I want to meet Jo’s twin?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“All I’m saying is that he’ll hurt you. And I don’t want you to get hurt. Of course I want you to be happy but not with him. Pick anyone else. Not him. I don’t like the idea of seeing you…” He trailed off, and Hilda growled.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Seeing me what, Alaric? Speaking to him? Kissing him? Oh, I know, maybe sleeping with him? It’s my bloody body and my bloody choice who I have sex with—”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Obviously, my comment came off wrong,” he said fiercely. “I didn’t mean that and I’m sorry. I didn’t want to insult you, Hilda, and I definitely didn’t want to anger you. I don’t want you to get hurt, that’s all. I trust you. I don’t trust Kai.” He was also jealous, but he didn’t say that.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Whatever,” she muttered. “I’ll talk to you later, I’m really not in the mood right now.”</em>
</p><p>Hilda shoved Kai off, and he quickly started to siphon once he got a hold of her arm, making her grit her teeth. The Heretic looked delighted when he saw that she looked almost embarrassed. </p><p>“Leave her alone, Kai,” snapped Bonnie. “We’ll do your stupid spell.”</p><p>“And what if I want to have a little chat first?” he asked innocently. “I’ve basically been living with all of you for a few months, I feel like I know her, but she doesn’t know me.” He tilted Hilda’s head up to look at him. “Tell me, what do you see in him?”</p><p>“You’re just trying to start a problem,” she hissed. She wondered if perhaps now was a better time to try and attack him…</p><p>“It’s not everyday you hear that someone is basically a match made in heaven for you. I’ve heard all about you and your brother Kol. I’ve got to say, I’m a big fan. Maybe when the spell is done, you can give me your autograph.”</p><p>“Is this all a joke to you?” she growled. “You’re going to hold me here like a hostage and force me to write a spell while you yap away about the most idiotic things you can think of?”</p><p>She moved slightly, and in an instant, he’d elicited a piercing scream from her with a simple wave of his hand. She clutched at her head, feeling blood pooling out of her eyes, adding onto how red her clothes already were from her fight with the vampires.</p><p>“I know all about you being linked to your siblings,” he told her darkly as he held out his hand, doing a similar spell to Bonnie that made her sink to the floor, unable to help Hilda. “You know why those vampires in the warehouse didn’t have that venom you’re so afraid of? Because I took it.” He stopped the spell, leaving both Hilda and Bonnie gasping as he took out a small syringe with a needle attached to it. “I can very easily inject this into your heart. So I suggest you sit down, shut up, and do exactly what I ask before my patience runs out.”</p><p>Hilda shakily got back onto the chair, and Bonnie mimicked her. Kai smirked, and pulled up a chair for himself as Hilda pulled at one of the papers and pens, beginning to write.</p><p>She tried to pause to listen. She couldn’t hear Alaric or the twins, which either meant they’d escaped to safety, or they were still inside and hiding. She didn’t know which she preferred. Either way, she felt terrified that Kai would do something to them.</p><p>“Oh, don’t be so glum,” said Kai, fake-pouting at Hilda. “And here I was thinking we could go to dinner after this.”</p><p>“I’ll disembowel you so slowly, you’ll wish we went to dinner instead,” she sneered, continuing to write.</p><p>He brought his hand to her face, and she flinched as he ran his knuckles down her jaw. “So jumpy, too,” he sighed. “Aren’t you supposed to be used to violence? Or have you really become that soft in three years?” </p><p>“Are you really going to just make small talk?” she managed, feeling more and more uncomfortable as each second passed.</p><p>Kai thought it over. “What do you think, Bonnie, should I cut to the chase?”</p><p>Bonnie said nothing, and he flicked his fingers, making her nose start to bleed. She wiped it angrily. “I think you should just be quiet if you expect us both to do this spell right,” she muttered.</p><p>He rolled his eyes. “Come on, Hilda’s supposed to be the smartest not-witch in the world aside from her brother. You’re a Bennett, and you’re full of power. You’ve both worked under pressure before. This should be a problem.” He put his hands under his chin and looked at Hilda, who was refraining from looking in his direction.</p><p>There were a few moments when the only sound was the scratching of the pen against the paper. Then, Kai started whistling and humming, singing quietly to himself and making a chill run down Hilda’s spine. Is this how other people had felt about her? Had she once induced this much fear into someone? She imagined she had, though she couldn’t recall having done something as unsettling as sing to those she had kidnapped. She killed quickly— kidnapping had never even been her style.</p><p>“You and I have a lot in common,” mused Kai. “Your memories are fun to look through.”</p><p>“Shut up,” she hissed, and he grabbed onto her arm, siphoning and making her stop. </p><p>“I don’t want to,” he told her simply. “I want to talk about us. You, me, your brother… we’d be like, the best villain trio. Maybe your brother Klaus could join us.” He leaned back a bit in the chair, letting go of Hilda’s hand. “You and I are both twins. We’ve both gone on murder rampages. I’m pretty sure I’m bipolar, too, that probably explains a lot…”</p><p>“I never killed my twin or my entire family,” she said darkly. “I, unlike you, chose to be a good person.”</p><p>Kai pretended to be offended. “Don’t kid yourself. You get it.” He gripped her hand again, taking her into another memory. <em>(A/N: From Ch. 34)</em></p><p>
  <em>“How can someone do something like that?” Alaric had asked her. “Kill four of their siblings?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hilda pursed her lips. “Honestly, Kol and I would have done away with our siblings if they weren’t immortals. After awhile… being the most disliked and the one that gets treated worse… it takes over you. That rage. You lose sense of right and wrong and all you can think of is making them hurt. Ending them. Our minds are fucked up and we lash out to feel better. Change is possible, but we have to want to change. Kol and I can be better around people we care about but if Kai doesn’t care about anyone… then it’ll be even harder for him. Why would he give a damn when no one has ever shown him decency? Kol and I at least had each other. Kai had no one. His own twin sister betrayed him. I… I really do almost understand how he felt. But still, that’s not right. He knows that. Kol and I know that.”</em>
</p><p>“You know exactly why I am the way I am, and why you’re different,” he said coldly. “You had it a hell of a lot better, didn’t you? The guy you wanted. The perfect little family. Your twin brother supported you when you were feeling fucked up. Me? I got nothing.”</p><p>Hilda stared at him. “What are you trying to do?” she asked quietly. “Why are you bringing this up?”</p><p>“Because I’ve been watching you and I know that you’ve been lying to yourself. There will always be a dark side to you, and you secretly love it. I saw you all those times… balling up your fists and wanting to break something. You hold yourself back because of those brats of yours, but in reality, it would make you a lot happier to just unleash and kill all those vampires who have been stalking you.” He gripped her face tightly. “You’re with someone who’s weak. Alaric can die at any moment from an illness. You’re stuck with a life you never really wanted. You’ve made a sacrifice and you’ve convinced yourself you like it, but I don’t think that’s true, is it?”</p><p>Hilda didn’t answer, and it was perfectly fine with him, because he wanted to keep talking. “I admit, I was intrigued when Damon once joked about me meeting you,” he continued. “Then I saw you at the wedding but you were all mopey because you weren’t the bride… now? You’ve lost your sense of fun. You could have it again, if you just unleashed. It feels so good to feed. To feel someone die in your hold…”</p><p>The Original shook her head, shoving the completed spell at him. “There,” she muttered.</p><p>Kai took it and looked it over, licking his lips and smirking over at her, clearly amused with her attitude. “You know, if this doesn’t work… your twins are going to die. I’ve put a spell on them.”</p><p>Hilda went rigid, and he continued, “While you were in dark Hilda mode killing those warehouse vampires, I linked myself to them. If you don’t get me out of Hell successfully, they’ll die. So think long and hard before you answer this question: Is this the final draft?”</p><p>The Original would have been an idiot to not have tried her hardest the first time around to give him what he wanted and ensure her daughters were safe. “Yes, it is,” she muttered. </p><p>Kai hummed, and looked it over again. “You know, we could still get dinner after this,” he said, smirking her way. “You, me, a few bottles of bourbon, some blood, magic chit chat…”</p><p>“In your dreams,” said Hilda furiously, gripping the edge of the table. </p><p>“In my dreams, you’re a lot nicer,” he said, feigning sadness. “I thought we’d be best pals, Hilly.”</p><p>“Don’t you dare call me that.”</p><p>“Why? Does it remind you of your brother? He and I would be BFFs for sure. Don’t know why you’re so against it.”</p><p>She cast him an incredulous look. “Are you really that stupid or are you just trying to make yourself look worse? I would never in a million years be your friend.”</p><p>“Really? Because I was under the impression you wanted to <em>sleep</em> with me.”</p><p>Hilda growled, knowing he was just trying to get under her skin. He really was excessively childish. Kai laughed and moved the spell in front of Bonnie, who was significantly more exhausted after the nosebleed Kai had given her. She couldn’t recover as fast as Hilda.</p><p>“I need to channel you to do this spell,” said Bonnie worriedly, looking at Hilda.</p><p>“I know,” the Original said quietly. If it was true that Kai had linked himself to the twins, then channeling and generating enough power was the only way to ensure that they brought him back from Hell.</p><p>“Yay,” said Kai, clapping his hands together. “I forget if I mentioned it, but I haven’t been able to taste or feel <em>anything</em>. So this…” he put his hand on Hilda’s face again. “Feels like nothing. Blood… doesn’t really taste like anything.”</p><p>“I don’t care,” said Hilda, shaking him off of her. “We’ll do the stupid spell. I expect you to get the hell out, or I will kill you, and I’ll leave the floor covered in your guts.”</p><p>“You’re so good with imagery,” he said, batting his eyelashes. “Tell me more. I love a girl who can be so vivid with violence.”</p><p>She stared at him with a deadpan expression. “I’ll rip your hands off so that you can’t siphon and shove them right down your throat. I’ll rip your spleen out first, then your liver, then your stomach, then I’ll pull your intestines out little by little, wrapping them around your throat and constricting your airways. I’ll use a rusted knife to skin you and I’ll feed you your own eyeballs, too. You’ll be begging for release, and I won’t give it to you. I’ll break every bone in your body and when you’ve turned into an unrecognizable mass on the floor, I’ll rip your heart out and eat it afterward.”</p><p>Kai shivered, and cast her a look that made her feel more unsettled. “You know how to get a man worked up,” he said, winking at her. </p><p>“What you need to understand,” she sneered, “is that at the end of the day, I’m an Original, and you’re a newbie vampire with magic that I can easily corrupt. I know magic you’ve never even heard of.”</p><p>Kai pouted. “Aw… but you haven’t done anything, have you? You’re too weak to do any significant damage while your daughters are still nearby. Being a mother has made you vulnerable and it’s pitiful. And you forget, baby... I saw into your mind. I know all the magic I need.” He extracted the syringe of Marcel’s venom. “Now, get on with the spell before we start doing some experimentation, hmm?”</p><p>Hilda and Bonnie both stood, and they awkwardly stood over Kai, placing one hand on his shoulder and linking the other two together. Hilda nodded to Bonnie, letting her know to just go through with it. They couldn’t risk tempting fate and seeing if the twins got hurt or not.</p><p>They began to chant quietly, and Kai closed his eyes, gritting his teeth as though he was experiencing pain. Hilda was glad that he was suffering. Over and over again they murmured quietly until Kai let out a particularly loud gasp and sat up.</p><p>“Phew,” he whistled, shaking his head and wiggling his fingers. “That feels a hell of a lot better.” He stood, and Hilda and Bonnie both flinched, stepping away from him. He licked his lips, and a cruel grin came to his face. “Who wants to let me know if my taste buds are working?” He grasped both of their wrists, siphoning and making them yell out in pain. Kai yanked Bonnie’s arm up, biting into it and making the Bennett witch scream in pain as he drank from her, the dark veins under his eyes running down the length of his face. He continued to feed until the witch went unconscious, leading him to shove her aside and turn to Hilda.</p><p>She let out another loud scream as he bit into her throat. She writhed and tried to get away, but he held her firm, siphoning to weaken her and prevent her from fighting. He pulled back, and shoved her into her chair. “I see why Mikael only ever fed on vampires,” he said, wiping his bloody mouth. “It has this extra element that makes it… addictive. You taste fantastic.”</p><p>“Get the hell out,” Hilda said, shivering as he continued to stand over her.</p><p>“Aw, but I don’t want to leave,” he said. “I have another proposition. You want to keep your twinsies safe. I want someone to keep me company. We can help each other. How about this...” </p><p>Kai knelt in front of her, a sadistic look on his face. “I’ll wake Elena up and I’ll let your daughters live, and in exchange, you show me how brutal a non-Ripper vampire can <em>really</em> be.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0070"><h2>70. Chapter 70</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda stared at him blankly.</strong>
</p><p>“What?” she said after a few seconds, now looking at him like he was stupid.</p><p>“You heard me,” Kai replied with a wiggle of his eyebrows.</p><p>The Original crossed her arms. She wasn’t considering it at all, but she wanted to see exactly where he was going with this. “Why would I give up my family to be a monster again?” she demanded. “The point was that I settled down. Became a better person.”</p><p>Kai made a face. “Did you really become a better person? Really? What’s gonna happen the day that your daughters learn the truth about the things you’ve done? When they’re old enough to remember this day and they realize their mommy killed thirty vampires in seven minutes like it was a carnival game?”</p><p>She narrowed her eyes. “You speak of my daughters as if you intend for them to grow up.”</p><p>“Well, if you come with me, they can grow up all they want,” he said with a shrug. </p><p>“You wouldn’t actually let them live.”</p><p>“I would. That’s how deals work.”</p><p>“You’re lying.” She gripped the table to stabilize herself as she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. “You’re going to urge me back into my psychotic ways then kill my daughters. Your answer is no.”</p><p>He made a puppy face, grabbing her arm and beginning to siphon again. “Think nice and hard about that, Hilda,” he prompted. “I’m offering you the life of your twinsies. Any mother would leap at that chance.”</p><p>“I can’t trust you, can I?” she sneered through gritted teeth. “I can hardly trust my own family not to hurt them. Surely you gathered from my memories that I don’t very much get along with my brother Elijah. I wouldn’t trust him with anything anymore.”</p><p>Kai came to sit on the table in front of her. “I get it,” he said as if they were merely friends ranting about a bad day to each other. “I mean, I thought I could trust my twin sister, then she got me sent to a prison world for eighteen years. Can you imagine that? You know what it’s like to be daggered for centuries. But at least you’re just taking a long nap and you can go into your memories. That’s how you cope, isn’t it? Imagine how it was for me. Eighteen years of being wide awake for the majority of the day, seeing the world empty except for me. I had nothing. No positive memories to rely on. You have at least a handful of good memories with each of your siblings. I had only one good memory with each of them, and they all happened when my brothers and sisters were still too little to understand that I was the family reject. Once they were told to stay away from me… there’s nothing.”</p><p>“I know you suffered,” she mumbled, looking away. “I heard all about it. You have trust issues and so do I. I suffered too. I lost my freedom for decades at a time. I lost my brother Finn twice. I watched Kol die twice, too— that hurt more. Over a thousand years I’ve been betrayed, assaulted, mistreated, abused. My father was just as bad as yours, if not worse. I know what it’s like. To be called a failure. To be hit over the head because of something we did wrong. He and my mother forced me to turn into this beast I am and it came with mental health problems I never expected. It's only recently that I’ve felt in control of my own body. You have to understand how terrible that is. Feeling out of place in your mind. Every innocent person becomes a potential victim and killing is the greatest thrill. Why? Because we make someone else feel a fraction of the pain that we do every day on repeat.”</p><p>He leaned a bit forward, smirking slightly. “Now you’re getting it,” he said, thinking she was considering it now. “Why hold back? You could use a good killing spree.”</p><p>“And if I don’t want to be that person anymore? You’ve killed less than a hundred people in your life. I’ve killed perhaps two thousand, and the body counts of my brothers are almost as bad. I’m almost entirely certain I’ve killed the most people out of all of my siblings. They killed, but their victims came back to life as vampires. All those slain by me have remained dead. Because when I get my hands on someone and decide to attack them, I don’t ever want them walking upright again.”</p><p>Kai was obviously appealed by this, not realizing what she was leading up to. “And yet,” she continued, “I was able to become a better person.”</p><p>He scoffed. “I see what this is,” he muttered. “You’re going to try and manipulate me into wanting to be a good little boy. Newsflash— I don’t want to be a weak, burned out, and idiotic softie.”</p><p>“Funny how you think insulting me will sway me in your favor,” she snapped. “Maybe I <em>would</em> have killed my siblings if I had the chance and the means to do it. And maybe I don’t blame you for having gone through with it. But—”</p><p>He seized her by the throat, making her cry out in discomfort again as he siphoned. “Don’t say ‘but you can be a better man,’” he said darkly, craning her neck back to a very dangerous degree. “I don’t care. I’m not going to sit idly by and listen to your bullshit. Make your choice. Come with me and let your twinsies live, or watch them die before I kill you, too.”</p><p>Hilda wheezed as he let her go, her hand moving up to massage where he’d left bruises. “I wasn’t going to say that,” she muttered. “I was going to say, ‘But there’s a difference between being happy and being satisfied.’”</p><p>He paused, and she continued. “I thought I was happy when I killed,” she muttered. “I thought it brought me joy like no other. It didn’t. It just brought me satisfaction. It made me feel like I was in control and like I was getting proper revenge for what was done to me. Did you know that nearly all of my victims were men, in the past? Because I associated men with pain. I had a father who beat me for not being able to keep up in a fight with a brother who was six years older than me. That same brother compelled my first love, and I was assaulted and dumped. Later, that man killed someone who was my family, and he didn’t care to make me feel secure. There are worse things I could list off. No matter what I say, the point stands— killing was only my way of feeling like I accomplished something. </p><p>“Satisfaction is not the same as happiness. You can be thrilled with how your life is right now because you think it’s elating to have blood on your hands. At the end of the day, however, you’re just as miserable as you were since the day your family started to mistreat you. Killing the Gemini Coven boosted your ego and made you feel like you healed from the trauma of being labeled as an abomination, but it didn’t bring you real joy. It left you more alone than ever. You’re the only real Gemini left and you’ve got no one on your side. So you think that by getting me to trot around with you, you’ll feel good about everything. You think you’ll be content because you’ll have a murder buddy who gets you. </p><p>“That story you’re trying to weave— the story of you and me being a badass killing duo— it’s practically a farce. You know you’ll be happy? When you find something you enjoy, something free of violence, and you let yourself indulge without caring what others think. For my brother Kol, it was a witch named Davina. She was the thing that made him feel human, she was the thing that made him feel calm and collected. For me, it was Alaric and the twins. Maybe I didn’t ever want to be a mother before I found out I was pregnant. Now? I’m happy. You know why? Because I found a place where I can be myself without judgment. I forged a family of my own where unconditional love finally made me feel accepted. I’m happy filling out coloring books because I’m being the parent that mine never were. All the hatred and resentment is channeled into being a good mother and that brings me satisfaction greater than any murder ever could.</p><p>“You didn’t have anyone to support you. Not even your twin sister backed you up. My brother Klaus, he had so many people who showed him there was good in him: Caroline, Camille, Hope, Hayley, Marcel, my siblings and I… he became better and though he still resorts to murder to protect his family… he’s improved. He’s painted more often since his daughter was born. He loves art. No one defended you, no one tried to make you feel included. Maybe some would say you didn’t deserve it because you didn’t try. But I heard about what happened after the Merge with Luke. You helped Bonnie get out. You tried to apologize. And maybe she didn’t buy it because you abused her in the prison world and abandoned her in there. But I think that even for just one moment, you sought to redeem yourself because you felt you could be happy doing something normal in the world. For you, that’s eating pork rinds, watching old movies, and maybe listening to music. There are little things that you can indulge in, and you choose not to. </p><p>“You stick with blood because in the past, it was your defensive mechanism. No one could hurt you if you didn’t let them in. Your brutal ways ensured that no one could harm you. No one gave you a chance. No one showed you that there was good inside of you, too. You’re what… forty five years old right now? Twenty-two of those years were filled with abuse, eighteen of them were filled with isolation, and four were spent in literal Hell. I get it. You’re young and you needed support. It took Klaus, Kol, and I a thousand years to calm down and figure out where we wanted to be in life. I guarantee, no matter what I choose, you won’t be happy, Kai.</p><p>“Hypothetically, let’s say I go with you. What’s to say I won’t kill you in the frenzy? I can’t control myself when I get like that. I’ll hurt someone I’m not meant to hurt and won’t realize it until hours later when their dead body has finally stopped leaking blood. And no, don't say you’d put me on a leash, because that’s not what you want, is it?”</p><p>Kai was mulling her words over, and he moved closer, putting his face right in front of hers. “I really wonder how Alaric Saltzman got someone like you to even look at him,” he murmured. </p><p>“What does that mean?” she said innocently. She had him right where she wanted him. He was transfixed and deep in thought and she could try and get the syringe away from him…</p><p>“Don’t play dumb,” he said, licking over his bottom lip. “Isn’t the age difference a weird thing? I mean, you’re older than him, but he looks like he could be your grandfather. He looks <em>ancient</em>. You look like you haven’t even graduated high school. What do people say when they see the girls calling you ‘Mommy’ and ‘Daddy?’”</p><p>“They call us ‘Mama’ and ‘Papa,’ actually,” she told him casually. “It’s what I called my parents and it sort of stuck for them. People have made weird comments. They’re like that. They think I went in for a little extra credit and got knocked up.”</p><p>Kai drummed his fingers on the table. “So after that Shakespearian monologue you busted out… what’s the verdict, baby? You coming or not?”</p><p>“Did you miss the part where I said you could probably be happier doing something else?”</p><p>“What’ll I do? Stare at a television screen all day?”</p><p>“A guy like you has got to have some sort of dream life. You, meeting a funny person with a dark sense of humor. Said person would love the same movies and snacks as you. Even if they were human, you could feed on them, and you’d still get some blood. You don’t have to do the wedding crap but they could be your partner and you can get some good action out of it. They could be someone who gets you and laughs at your jokes. You’d feel in control of yourself around them.”</p><p>“Does it always boil down to that? Bad person meets a good person that makes them calm and happy? You… Klaus… Kol… Damon… you met someone, went head over heels for them, and now you’re chill, but really just with that person— you still hate everyone else.”</p><p>Hilda shrugged. “That’s how it could be, sometimes. Often, love is the most important thing in contributing to happiness. It can be self-love or love coming from another source. Some people are happy alone because they love the way they are. Some of us with mental health issues and a drive to kill need a specific person to show us that the world is about more than just whose lives we take. I think you could genuinely be happy by yourself or with someone else, even if you’re not killing people every day.”</p><p>“Let’s say I become a good boy,” he mused. “Does that mean I get visiting privileges with my nieces?”</p><p>“I don’t know. Does being a good boy entail that you’ll be trustworthy enough for me to allow you near them again? We’ll see.”</p><p>“Is this the part where you tell me to take the chance to be nice?”</p><p>“Maybe.”</p><p>He started to laugh heartily. Apparently, this was very funny for him. “Oh… Alaric must feel so good about himself knowing he’s the one that gets to sleep next to you every night. I almost kind of get it. It’s like this strangely appealing thing.”  </p><p>Hilda decided that this was the time to try, an idea coming into her head. She had to first make sure she scouted the ground ahead before she made a move. What better way to do it than to look into his mind and see what his plans were? She couldn’t just grab onto him, that’d be suspicious. No… she had to be more clever about it.</p><p>She stood, and he did too, which made her roll her eyes. “So tense,” she said, tucking her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. “Is this really how it’s going to be when we’re on the road?”</p><p>Kai stared at her suspiciously. “You’re considering it.”</p><p>“How could I not? For three years, I’ve been alone with my thoughts. I can’t act out on anything because I’m afraid to hurt my daughters. I have to release the pent up anger somehow. And I can’t do it anywhere near the girls. You’re the closest thing I have to the ideal partner-in-crime right now. My only qualm is that I don’t know how to ensure that you fulfill your part of the deal. Bringing back Elena and guaranteeing that my daughters— and Ric are safe.”</p><p>“You’re throwing Alaric into the deal now?” </p><p>She nodded. “I feel like I should. You do realize that I know what you’re thinking to do, right?”</p><p>“Enlighten me.”</p><p>She forced a blush onto her cheeks. “I mean… it’s not that hard to figure out that you intend for us to hookup… at least once.”</p><p>Kai obviously hadn’t expecting her to be so blunt about it. “What gave you that impression, naughty girl?” he asked lowly.</p><p>“Because I’ve seen you checking me out the entire time we’ve been here,” she noted. “You’re eager to get me alone. You mentioned what I said about sleeping with you, under different circumstances. You keep bringing up my relationship with Alaric. You want me.”</p><p>“Okay,” he replied, still a bit skeptical. “What do you propose, then?”</p><p>“I’m still thinking, darling, give me a moment. I want to ensure that Elena is woken up and the girls and Ric are left safe, wherever they choose to be. I know that if I go… there won’t be any hope for him and me any more, no matter what my reasons are. He won’t respect me if I choose this, but I don’t think I really have a choice, do I? He’ll be hurt when I leave. And if you and I end up… well, for lack of a better phrase… fucking… he’ll be angry. He’ll want to retaliate. I want to know you’re not going to hurt him. That you won’t mock him if something does happen. You have to understand that right now, I’m thinking of protecting my daughters from you, and from who I might become if I don’t get all this emotion out soon. Whatever happens after that…”</p><p>She knew she had him hooked. He wasn’t hiding the fact that he was tracing his eyes up and down her figure now. “I guess I didn’t realize that you could be like this,” he said, his voice slightly strained. “I thought… it was your sister Rebekah who tried the whole sexy act.”</p><p>Hilda giggled, pretending to be flustered. “Yes, well, I was the one who usually just slaughtered without remorse. In the past, I was too afraid that someone would try to take advantage of me again. Some men are such pigs. Obviously, I know not all of them have such sinister intentions… but vampires aren’t mind readers. Some of them have really steady heartbeats even when they’re lying. A girl can never know who to trust, no matter how nice a guy is to her. I’ve had to be cautious with all boys, so the sexy act was never for me. Rebekah didn’t mind doing the job— she loved it. My brothers had their own agenda. She and I were the ones ensuring the plans never went wrong. She’d seduce and I’d reduce… and I mean this as in reduce the amount of problematic people by killing them once she got information from them. It was quite fun. I miss my sister…”</p><p>“I could help you get your siblings back,” he murmured as she came closer, backing him into the table. </p><p>“You could?” she said, looking up at him and batting her eyelashes and moving her hips against his. She listened as his heart rate picked up. She nudged him back and he moved to sit on one of the chairs, nodding. “I could,” he told her. “The twins won’t get hurt, nor will Alaric…”</p><p>“Promise?” she whispered, leaning in, knowing he was struggling to keep his hands to himself. It benefitted her, because she knew she would be in trouble if he saw into her mind at that moment and realized that she was faking it. He hadn’t noticed it.</p><p>“Sure,” he told her, his Adam’s apple jumping in his throat. She straddled him, pressing her body into his and making him let out a quiet groan, his body responding immediately with arousal, which made her let out a gasp of her own.</p><p>“You know what I like?” he told her, looking at her with lust-filled eyes. “A girl who can outdo me when it comes to murder. I hear you’re ruthless and hot simultaneously…”</p><p>She winked and leaned in to whisper in his ear, rolling her hips into his. “You heard right,” she cooed. “I guarantee, you’ve <em>never</em> seen a psychopath who does it like me. They’ve called me many things over the years… but the one name no one is bold enough to say… because they’d have to acknowledge me as a superior… is ‘Psycho Queen.’”</p><p>Kai was tempted to grab hold of her, but he didn’t, because she slid her hands down his arms, sending shivers down his spine. “How about I become the King?” he asked shakily, trying not to let himself fall apart. He’d completely underestimated the tantalizing effect she could have on him. He had no experience compared to her. She knew manipulation to another level and her acting skills were far better than what he could dream to achieve. “And you can show me what steamy Original-Heretic sex feels like…”</p><p>“One more time,” she said, pulling back and looking into his eyes. She didn’t risk compulsion… soon enough, she’d know what his true intentions were. “Do you promise to let Ric and the twins live?”</p><p>“Yes,” he whispered. Since he felt no compulsion, he could easily lie, and it left him unable to figure out what was going to happen next.</p><p>Hilda dipped her head forward, kissing him firmly on the lips, a door of memories opening as she made contact with him. She saw flashes that let her know that no matter what type of tough game he talked up, his intentions were impure. She could see memories of him watching them for the past three months. There were disgusting moments when she realized that he had been watching her when she was undressed, too. No wonder it had been so easy to get him to relax. She saw that he fully intended to kill the twins and Alaric, as well as Bonnie and Damon, when he had the chance. She saw the memory of him acquiring the syringe— it wasn’t Marcel’s venom at all. It was plain wolf venom that he had intended to inject into Enzo. Perhaps the most interesting thing was the truth about Elena’s spell. The girl wasn’t linked to Bonnie at all— she was linked to Stefan. If Bonnie died, Damon would suffer double, because he’d have lost his best friend and his girlfriend wouldn’t have woken up. He would never have been able to kill his brother.</p><p>Kai had absolutely no idea what she had just seen. His hands had gone to her hips, and in the time she’d been searching his memories, he’d pressed her down onto the table, already trying to unbuckle his pants. </p><p>She pulled back with a pant, pretending to be kissing his neck, when really, she was ready to attack. She tucked her legs in with a fake needy whine, pretending she was going to let him take her right then and there. </p><p>She suddenly bit into his throat, and he let out a yell. Her tucked legs shot out, and he flew back into a bookshelf, sending it crashing on top of him and raining books on the floor. She sped behind him before he could recover, ripping a piece of wood off and jabbing it through his torso, making him yell in pain.</p><p>He tried to retaliate, but his magic wasn’t as strong when he was weakened. He became like a chew toy to her. With ease, she tossed him around, breaking furniture and leaving him with splinters of wood all over his body. She grabbed anything she could and used it as a weapon, all her anger channeled into beating him up and keeping him from siphoning. There were tremendous crashes following one after the other as they wrecked the room, he in trying to blast her away with magic, and she in weakening him enough so that she could really make him suffer. A part of her thought she ought to just kill him quickly and get it over with, but every sadistic bone was insisting that he needed to suffer. </p><p>When she finally had left him unable to move, several chair legs stuck in his body, she pinned him to a wall, smirking and looking into his eyes to compel him. “You won’t use your magic ever again. You won’t siphon and you won’t move. If I ask you questions, you’ll answer with only the truth. And when I’m done with you, you’ll wish you had thought twice about trying to hurt my family. The pain you’re about to feel? That’s for Jo. For Ric. For your siblings. For Bonnie. For Elena. For Damon. For Stefan. For me. For my girls.”</p><p>Hilda had never really been into torture. She liked to kill fast and be done with it. This was too good of an opportunity to pass up. </p><p>She let him bleed to death. She let him beg and cry out as she beat into him, leaving him defenseless. Her temper had flared and she no longer cared that this was brutal. She knew she should have just killed him quickly, but after three years of not getting to unleash the beast inside of her, she just couldn’t stop.</p><p>When he was finally dead, she let herself breathe. That was it. He could never hurt her children again. </p><p>A set of footsteps let her know that Alaric was coming back. She turned to him and saw that he was alone.</p><p>“Where are the girls?” she asked shakily. Now, all the guilt was settling in. She was covered in even more blood than she had been when she arrived. She looked down at Kai and saw a boy who had lost his way and hadn’t had anyone to love him. She remembered when she was seventeen, a new vampire, and when she had just needed guidance, but she hadn’t received it right away.</p><p>“They’re safe,” he said, coming closer. “Once I realized you were winning, I got them to their room. I tried talking to them about it. They were scared, but they’re doing okay. I think… once you get cleaned up, you should go see him.”</p><p>Hilda’s eyes started to water, and she nodded, speeding away to shower. She felt like she had done something wrong by tapping into the darker parts of herself again. It felt worse because she had the impression she’d betrayed Alaric by kissing Kai, even if it was to get information.</p><p>The instant she’d scrubbed all the blood off, she went to her girls, hearing Damon, Enzo, and Bonnie were awake again and trying to clean the room Kai and Hilda had destroyed.</p><p>“MAMA!” the girls screamed as she dropped in front of them. Alaric was behind, having been talking to them while Hilda got ready.</p><p>“My darlings,” she whispered, no longer able to contain her tears. “Oh… my princesses… I’m so sorry. I’m sorry this happened, I’m sorry your lives are such a mess because of me…” she pulled back, letting them see that she was crying while she caressed their little faces. “I love you both so, so much. You were so brave today and I’m so proud of you. This won’t happen again, I won’t let it.”</p><p>“Did you get the bad guy, Mama?” asked Josie quietly.</p><p>Hilda nodded, and Lizzie’s eyes widened. “How did you defeat him?” she asked.</p><p>Her lip quivered. “Sometimes… you and I lose control, right? We feel… really sad because we can hurt people on accident. But sometimes… as supernaturals… it can be our greatest weapon and we can use it to protect our family. As long as we keep it in check, we’ll be okay. I promise you… when you’re older, I will help you understand it more. I just need you to know right at this moment, that you’re not damaged, and you’re not weak. You are both so, so strong and you’re more powerful than you think you are. I’ll show you one day how to use the power to stay safe, okay?” She pressed a kiss on each of their foreheads before pulling them into another hug.</p><p>In the evening, Alaric had come to her room, finding her on her bed, staring at the wall. “Hey,” he said softly, coming to sit beside her. She flinched a bit, and he frowned. “Did he do something, Hilda?”</p><p>“No,” she murmured. “But I did.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“I kissed him.”</p><p>He was quiet. “Why?” he didn’t sound hurt, just confused.</p><p>“I-I tricked him. I pretended to be interested in what he was saying and he fell for it. I saw into his mind. I knew I could beat him. He didn’t have Marcel’s venom at all, and tomorrow… I will be able to explain to Bonnie and Damon how to wake Elena up. I feel dirty. I was a monster today. This shouldn’t have happened.”</p><p>Alaric took her hand, bringing it up to his mouth and kissing it gently. “You were not a monster. You were a mother. A mother who protected her daughters fiercely. You did what you had to do and I am so beyond lucky to have you. The twins are fortunate to have a mother who will fight so hard to keep them safe, even if she has to flirt with the Devil. I could never hate you, Hilda. I love you. Always and Forever.”</p><p>Hilda looked up at him, her eyes still teary, and pulled him in for a tight hug, glad that she could feel safe in his arms.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0071"><h2>71. Chapter 71</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>March 26, 2019</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>They were in bed when Hayley called.</strong>
</p><p>“Hayley?” said Hilda groggily, rubbing her eyes. “What is it?”</p><p>“I finally have it,” she said excitedly. “Mary thinks she found a Malraux.”</p><p>Hilda sat up immediately, accidentally whacking Alaric in the face and making him whine. “You think this is it?” she said.</p><p>“I think so. I admit, I lost all hope after we only managed to get six strains of the venom. Your siphon witch and your antidote came through for Freya and Rebekah, but…”</p><p>“Do you want us to meet you at your house?” asked Hilda, already getting up to get dressed.</p><p>“I’d appreciate it if you could. Mary and Alaric can stay with the girls— it’s about time they got to meet in person. You and I can take care of getting our Malraux wolf.”</p><p>They were on the move within the hour.</p><p>The girls were still asleep as they put them into their carseats, and Alaric and Hilda had packed the biggest suitcase with as much clothes as they might need for a few days away from their Texas home, which they had returned to after waking Elena up.</p><p>The poor doppelganger had been incredibly confused hearing about everything that’d happened while she was asleep, but she was delighted to meet the twins, who were fascinated with the fact that Elena wanted to be a doctor. It seemed that everyone could be happy now— Stefan and Caroline had married, and it seemed Damon and Elena were going to follow along soon enough. Bonnie and Enzo still wanted to wait before they made any big decisions, but they were happy, and from that shared happiness of the friend group came a gift.</p><p>Stefan and Damon had agreed that the Salvatore Boarding House was not going to be an ideal place to keep around once they each got married. They weren’t even currently living in it anymore. It had been Caroline who gave Alaric the idea of starting a school for the twins, and after a very extensive week of discussing, Alaric and Hilda decided they wanted to try and go through with it, which left the Salvatore brothers giving them the Boarding House to use as the campus. Caroline, of course, was overseeing the renovation of the Salvatore House to accommodate students properly, and with Elena and Bonnie’s help, Hilda was learning more about how she and Alaric would end up running the place. The Original had certainly never pictured herself running a school, but the thrill of getting to teach magic as a job was making her go with the flow and feel excited. They intended to open it in the coming fall, and they had already planned out how they wanted the curriculum to work.</p><p>Hilda was not a fan of having required subjects, especially because everyone’s strengths were different and she knew they would already have a greater class load with supernatural classes on top of everything. Thus, they established that they would have career counseling done once a month for every grade level they ended up having, so that students would be free to not take a class if they didn’t want to, meaning they had more room in their schedule to play on their strengths and not be weighed down by their weaknesses. They would encourage the students to take at least one class in each subject area for one term just so they would be exposed to everything, but after that, they would not be required to stick with classes they don’t like (they would be more lenient with students at high school level, but would try to have the younger students continue to take all the basic subjects). </p><p>They had one minor examination that the students would complete when enrolling just to assess their mathematics, science, and English knowledge from their previous schools. That way, they would be placed in the appropriate class with the amount of support needed for their level. They were already expecting high school level students and they wanted to ensure they were ready for college, if they chose to apply. They would use career counseling to help students find the right path for them, and they would be informed of which classes they ought to take to follow the pathway they chose. </p><p>Already, they had received numerous applications and test results. They had spread the word as much as possible through the wolf, witch, and vampire communities they’d managed to find. As expected, they wouldn’t have over two hundred students, which meant they would be able to give everyone more individualized attention to help them keep up with their schoolwork while also learning to appreciate their supernatural abilities.</p><p>Several Professors had already been hired to teach the important subjects they were going to be offering. They had aimed for them to be supernaturals themselves so that they could be an extra resource to the students. An untriggered werewolf would be teaching mathematics and ‘Introduction to Lycanthropy.’ Alaric would be teaching history and geography. A European witch had agreed to teach their art electives, which included choir, theatre, dance, and visual arts. Two witches who were siblings would be teaching biology and physics for the older students. </p><p>Hilda had signed herself up for more classes, since Alaric was better at handling administrative things. She would be teaching regular chemistry, a course for advanced witches called ‘Chemistry of Magic,’ and ‘Introduction to Vampirism’ They had specifically hired a kind young witch named Emma Tig to teach lower grade witches the basics, since Hilda definitely didn’t have the patience to teach all the younglings elementary magic. Instead, she’d be focused on advanced spells that Emma didn’t know, and would be working with students whose maturity levels were more up to par for the content she’d be showing them.</p><p>One of Alaric’s interns, Dorian Williams, had agreed to come work as the librarian and substitute teacher, while also being in charge of sports and physical education, which would happen after classes were over. They were holding off on hiring Professors for different languages, since they weren’t yet sure what languages they ought to offer, but they had found a kind Australian vampire who was more than happy to teach English. He was also fluent in Spanish, Japanese, and Latin, which he offered to teach if the students ever voted to have those languages available. Since they didn’t have many students yet, none of the teachers were going to have too much on their plate, which ensured the students would be learning in an attentive environment.</p><p>Every first year student, at the start of this fall, would be in a seminar course called ‘Origins of Species’ for the first term to learn about all of the species’ relations with each other to teach the students about past discord and help them understand that they could get along. They planned to offer seminars once a month with certain age groups to encourage mingling between species and promote unity. Any non-specific classes (such as the magic courses, Intro to Lycanthropy, and Into to Vampirism) would have a mix of witches, vampires, and werewolves, and they had planned for lunch to be at the same time for all. </p><p>Despite being nervous at the prospect of running an entire school, Hilda knew that she had Alaric for backup, not to mention that Caroline would be more than happy to help give advice if they needed it. </p><p>They arrived at Hayley’s house the following afternoon. Alaric eased their van into the empty garage, since Hayley didn’t have a car, and they helped the girls out of their carseats as Hayley brought Hope out.</p><p>“HOPE!” the twins squealed in unison, running to the cousin they’d only ever gotten to know through a phone screen. Hope smiled shyly at them and remained in place as they came to hug her.</p><p>“No one followed you, right?” asked Hayley worriedly as she pulled Hilda into a hug of her own.</p><p>“We checked often, it doesn’t seem like it,” promised Alaric as he shook Hayley’s hand. “Is Mary here yet?”</p><p>“No, she should be arriving in another hour. For now—”</p><p>“Ouch!”</p><p>They turned to see Hope holding her arm, and Lizzie looking very guilty. “I didn’t mean to!” she said quickly before looking at her mother. “Mama, I didn’t mean to siphon!”</p><p>“Then apologize,” Hilda told her simply. “It was an accident.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, Hope,” said Lizzie, trying not to cry.</p><p>Hope pretended all was well. She knew the twins were only five, and she knew that as the older cousin, she had to try and be lenient. “Just don’t do it again, please,” she said politely, twisting the bracelet on her hand. </p><p>“You have so much power,” said Josie, her eyes wide. “I can feel it.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” said Alaric awkwardly to Hayley. “They can control it a bit better but sometimes it just happens.”</p><p>Hayley just grinned. “It’s alright, I think Hope just wasn’t expecting it. She looks okay. How about some lunch?”</p><p>“Can Liz and Jo eat on the couch with me, pretty please?” said Hope, coming to tug on Hayley’s shirt.</p><p>“What’s the rule?” asked Hayley, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>Hope pouted. “No eating on the couch.”</p><p>“We can all sit at the table and have fun together,” said Hayley, beckoning them inside.</p><p>She helped them get settled into two of the rooms and then led them up into the attic. Hilda slipped in and opened the four coffin lids, smiling as she got to see the faces of her siblings after five years. She caressed Kol’s face, concentrating before entering his mind.</p><p>Freya, Rebekah, Elijah, and Kol were lounging in the garden of the Chambre de Chasse. Elijah had a book propped up, and Rebekah and Freya were both trying strange ways of painting their hair.</p><p>“Hilly,” said Kol, sitting up at the sight of her. He ran to her side, engulfing her in his arms and making her sigh.</p><p>“Almost,” she whispered as the others came closer. “We’re almost there, I swear it.”</p><p>One by one, they moved to hug her, Elijah waiting until the end. Hilda gave him more of a side hug, but leaned onto him. “It’s good to see you all,” she sighed. “You can’t imagine how it’s been with you gone.”</p><p>“How are the girls?” asked Rebekah, her eyes shining. “I’m so excited to meet them.”</p><p>“They’re doing well. They just got to meet Hope for the first time and they’re really happy. They’re quite excited to get to meet their Aunt Bex. Hayley and I have told them all stories about you all and they’ve been eager.” She looked over at Freya. “They’re especially eager to meet the witch in the family.”</p><p>Freya beamed at her. “And I am eager to meet them, sister. How has the progress gone for waking us up?”</p><p>“We cured you awhile ago, and one of the Heretics very kindly siphoned Rebekah’s curse. Today, Hayley and I will be going to retrieve the last Malraux to get the seventh and final strain of venom that we need.”</p><p>“As soon as we’re awake, we’ll be going to get Nik, won’t we?” asked Kol.</p><p>Hilda nodded. “That’s the plan. Alaric and Mary are going to stay with the girls. By this time possibly tomorrow, you’ll all be able to meet them, and Nik can be with his daughter again.”</p><p>Elijah patted her back. “We can never thank you enough, sister,” he told her gently. </p><p>She half-smiled. “You can thank me by being respectful to my girls. I don’t want to dwell on the past.” She looked over at her twin, knowing he and Elijah must have made amends by now after what happened to Davina. “Perhaps, long ago, we never thought we could be good people. But we are, and we need to prove it. No more sacrificing other people for the sake of our family. We will fight like hell to protect each other and we will be inclusive, okay?”</p><p>“You have my word,” Elijah told her.</p><p>Hilda didn’t want to leave, but she knew that she needed to go in order to wake them up by the end of the day. Giving her siblings another tight hug, she slipped out of Kol’s mind and made her way downstairs to where Hayley, Alaric, and the girls were already eating.</p><p>“Mama!” Josie squealed. “They made chicken!”</p><p>“Did they?” said Hilda, smiling at her daughter as she went to sit beside Josie, since Alaric was on the other side of Lizzie. Across from them where Hayley and Hope. </p><p>“I helped,” said Hope proudly.</p><p>“I can’t cook,” said Lizzie solemnly. She and her sister shared a look, and the two spoke in unison, “We can’t cook at all.”</p><p>Hayley grinned. “I’m sure you’ll learn soon. Hope here didn’t start learning until a few months ago. Usually, she’s painting while I cook.”</p><p>The twins gasped. “We want to see!”</p><p>“Lizzie doesn’t like to paint because she makes messes,” giggled Josie.</p><p>“And Josie doesn’t like to paint because she never has ideas,” added Lizzie.</p><p>Hope blushed. “I can show you. I paint, like my dad.” She looked up at Hilda. “Did you paint, too?”</p><p>She shook her head. “No, Nik was the only one of us who was good at the visual arts. Your Uncle Kol and I could hardly learn how to hold a paintbrush or how to play a piano. Your Uncle Elijah and Aunt Bex learned quite a bit about the performing arts. I tried to dance, but I wasn’t all that good at it. I don’t think your Aunt Freya paints yet, but she likes to look at your father’s work, just like the rest of us.” She pointed up to a painting Hayley had hung up on the wall and looked at her daughters. “That one right there was painted by your Uncle Nik.”</p><p>The twins stared at it, transfixed. “Papa,” said Josie thoughtfully, “your art is different.”</p><p>Alaric blushed. “Well, my ‘art’ is more like… knowing how to fix things and knowing a lot about what happened in the past. If that counts as art.”</p><p>“What do you think, Hope?” asked Hayley as her daughter sat up to get a better look at how much food was left on the twins’ plates. “You think your Uncle Ric is an artist?”</p><p>“Yeah,” she said, wiggling in her seat. “Are you done?” She saw that the twins had almost finished their meal.</p><p>The twins looked up at their parents with puppy eyes. “Alright,” sighed Hilda, taking Josie’s plate while Alaric took Lizzie’s. “You’ve had enough, if you want to go see Hope’s room.”</p><p>Hope jumped out of her seat and ran to the stairs, the twins following, and laughter ringing around the house.</p><p>“She’s so sweet,” sighed Hilda, watching Hope lead her daughters away. “She’s got so much of you. But the eyes… the hair… those are all Nik. The artistic abilities…”</p><p>“And the temper,” said Hayley, picking up Hope’s plate. “She can be… a little fiery. Doesn’t happen too often, but she’s definitely inherited the fight he has.”</p><p>“Lizzie’s the same,” said Alaric. “She gets mad really easily. We spoke to their pediatrician and she thinks it might be early onset bipolar disorder.”</p><p>Hayley frowned. “But how is that possible? She’s not biologically related to Hilda.”</p><p>Alaric winced. “Well, remember what we told you about Kai coming back from Hell? He specifically told Hilda that he was sure he was bipolar. We have no access to Gemini family history but it’s possibly from Jo’s side. On another note, my dad is probably undiagnosed bipolar, too… but the point is that she might have it, and we’ll need to start working on a treatment plan for when the formal diagnosis happens.”</p><p>“Have they recommended medication? She’s too young to be having to resort to pills.”</p><p>“I, personally,” said Hilda, “wouldn’t want her to start taking medication until she’s old enough to understand it and can make that choice for herself. I know it will help but like you said, she’s really little and I never took medication because it wouldn’t have done anything. I worry that it’ll have adverse effects on her because of her siphon nature. We’re going to try to find a specialist who’s supernatural so that we can give the full story and get the best support for her. She has yet to be officially diagnosed. For now, she and I have what we call our Ocean Time. We’ll sit in the living room and listen to calming sounds— usually she picks those sea noises. We’ll sort of meditate for a bit and talk about our feelings.”</p><p>Alaric put his hand on Hilda’s and squeezed it. “I think we’re lucky that Hilda knows almost exactly what she’s feeling, so she knows how to talk to her about it, and Lizzie trusts her. She’ll tell her some things in a lot of detail and I… I don’t know how I would have helped otherwise, because I’ve never gone through that. Even Josie gets really overwhelmed and scared sometimes because she thinks it’s her fault that Lizzie’s temper flares up. She doesn’t really understand that there are genetic and biological links to it.”</p><p>“I’m thankful Hope has her supernatural qualities that keep her from getting ill,” said Hayley. “Whenever she gets a scratch, she heals right up, and I don’t let her practice magic often, but the Healing Spells you taught her, Hilda, have come in handy whenever she’s taken a bad tumble. She gets stronger every day. I keep running what the twins said through my head. She has an insane amount of power that I will never be able to understand. I don’t know what to do. I can’t keep homeschooling her forever.”</p><p>Alaric and Hilda shared a look. “Well,” said Alaric, “we’re planning to open up the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted in the fall. Hope would be welcome there. I know Mystic Falls is far, but we’ll make sure she’s safe.”</p><p>Hayley beamed. “Actually… that’s a really good solution. I don’t know how Klaus will feel about it, but…”</p><p>Hilda made a ‘pssh’ sound and waved her hand dismissively. “You let me handle my brother. He won’t think to object if I’m going to be there taking care of her. Besides, it’s not like you can’t visit.”</p><p>“I admit, I might be more comfortable having Hope be called ‘Hope Marshall’ instead of Mikaelson. What’ll you be doing?”</p><p>The Original blinked, not having thought about it. “I suppose I was just imagining I’d still be Hilda Mikaelson.”</p><p>“Won’t some of the kids know about… the family?”</p><p>“Well, the vampires especially will be learning about it. I intend to tell them about my past, without the gorey details. I admit, I’m scared that they’ll be frightened of me, but I plan to help them with self control and exercises that might help them understand their condition better and make sure they don’t hurt anyone. I can’t sugarcoat it. They’ll have to know. If it’s not going well, then I understand I’ll have to go. But I want to be a part of it for as long as I can.”</p><p>Alaric gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t be paranoid, the kids are going to love you. We got a lot of them to apply even though the bottom of the invitation letter said ‘We hope you’ll join us, Alaric Saltzman and Hilda Mikaelson.’ Word has to have spread by now that you’re a mom. Trust me, no one is thinking of you as ‘Hellish Hilda’ anymore. They’re definitely just wondering how strict you’re going to be.”</p><p>Hayley started to laugh, and Hilda blushed. “I fear my problem will be that I’ll be far too lenient,” she said honestly.</p><p>“Nah, don’t worry about that,” said Hayley. “You’re like the ideal parent. Your girls feel like they can tell you anything, and that’s how it should be. Teaching won’t be all that different. I bet the kids will just be bummed out that they can’t be your sirelings. Speaking of that… whose sirelings might they be?”</p><p>Alaric pursed his lips. “Most of them have told us they’re from Klaus’s sireline— they were able to trace it back. We’re a bit worried about those who might be from Elijah or Rebekah’s sirelines, because they’re still linked to them.”</p><p>Hilda and Hayley both perked up at the sound of a truck pulling up. There was giggling upstairs, and the girls came running down, each with a different drawing in their hand. “Mary’s here!” said Hope happily. “I saw her from the window, Mom.”</p><p>Hayley nodded and got to her feet. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” She looked at Hilda, who nodded back.</p><p>It was time to get the family back together.</p>
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<a name="section0072"><h2>72. Chapter 72</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>While Hayley had been getting the wolf, Hilda was moving coffins.</strong>
</p><p>To get a head start, since it was hinted at by Mary that someone else had found the Malraux wolf, too, Hayley had gone ahead, and told Hilda where to take the coffins. She’d had Alaric help her load her siblings into a moving truck, which would have been a very awkward sight for anyone who didn’t know about the Mikaelsons.</p><p>Giving her daughters and nieces each a kiss on the head, she shook Mary’s hand and pecked Alaric’s lips before getting into the truck and beginning to drive toward an old warehouse near the Texas-Louisiana border, since the Malraux wolf was somewhere in Austin.</p><p>Hilda made quick work of setting up the back room of the warehouse for the spell. She set the coffins out, keeping the lids closed as she started to set up the other materials she’d brought with her— an unfortunately painful mask that the wolf would need to wear to acquire their venom. Hilda was glad she wasn’t a wolf, because that sounded downright terrible.</p><p>Using the chalk Hayley had given her, she made the necessary star with seven points on it, though she didn’t set down any of the six vials of venom yet, because knowing her, she might accidentally break them, and that’d be a ruddy shame. </p><p>“Hayley texted me letting me know she’ll be here soon,” sighed Hilda to Alaric while she sat on the floor, resting her back against Kol’s coffin. “It’s almost time. How are the girls?”</p><p>“Well, they’re worried,” he told her through the phone. It’d taken several hours to drive to Texas, because unluckily for Hilda, she’d met traffic along the way. “But Mary and I decided it was a good idea to let them watch a movie. This is um, <em>Barbie in the Twelve Dancing Princesses</em>? You can guess who picked that.”</p><p>Hilda laughed knowingly. “Josie, of course. We should offer a ballet class at the school.”</p><p>“I bet they’d love that, if they decide to stick with it. No one’s given you trouble yet, have they?”</p><p>“Well, no, unless you count a very annoyed man who flipped me off after cutting me off at a freeway ramp, which was completely irresponsible since my visibility is terrible with a truck instead of a car. I was tempted to bump the back corner of his bumper to send him off spinning, but I was already running late to get to this rendezvous point. Unfortunately, it’s quite empty and dull.”</p><p>“You’ll be back soon enough. Let me know when you’re on your way with everyone so that I can try to make some food. I know vampires don’t really need that stuff but it’s some comfort, and it’s the next best thing without blood bags.”</p><p>She smirked. “Or you could put a few drops of your blood into everyone’s glass.”</p><p>“I only do that for you, no one else. Speaking of blood— the girls were talking earlier about the ‘mission’ as they call it, and they were wondering what blood tastes like, because they know cranberry juice isn't the real deal. I think maybe we should keep sharp objects away from them for a bit.”</p><p>“Ah, just tell them they’re not going to like it unless they’re actually vampires. It’s like how right now, they know we like the ‘big kid’ drinks but they won’t like it until they’re of age.”</p><p>“Another thing. They know Hope is a tribrid. Lizzie made a comment about the twins becoming hybrids so they could become superheroes.”</p><p>Hilda rubbed her forehead. “Crap. I knew we shouldn’t have told them about Valerie being part vampire. Oops. That one’s on me.”</p><p>Alaric laughed on the other end. “No, no, it’s okay. I just think they’re not really understanding that supernaturals aren’t automatically superheroes. By winter, they’ll understand it better with the lessons. I got another call today about a new student— she’s a witch, but she’s got a specific leaning toward Pyrokinesis. I assured the mom that we’re going to help her get it under control, but I didn’t even know that was a thing.”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “Kol knows a bit more about witches and fire magic. We’ll have to adjust whatever room she stays in so that things don’t catch on fire. Either way… we’ll be becoming very familiar with magical and regular fire extinguishers in the coming months.”</p><p>Alaric gave a sigh. “I’ll call her back and see what else we can find out about her powers.” There was a pause. “Hey. I love you.”</p><p>The Original felt her cheeks heating up, as they usually did whenever he told her those three words. “And I love you,” she replied. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”</p><p>“Take care, Hilda,” he told her. “I’ll update you on anything major.”</p><p>“Likewise.” She blew him a kiss even if he couldn’t see it, before hanging up. She leaned further back into the coffin, smiling to herself.</p><p>Alaric was always so respectful of her preferences for a relationship. She didn’t like to receive presents, so he gave her what she actually needed, which was quality time, words of affirmation, and physical touch. He knew she wasn’t into pet names, so they didn’t use them, though he sometimes called her ‘darling’ to tease her. They communicated about everything and focused on solving any disputes whenever the girls weren’t around, speaking in gentle voices so that if they overheard, they wouldn’t think their parents were fighting. Either way, there weren’t very many serious disputes. Most of them had to do with random opinions. Alaric, for example, thought that pineapples didn’t belong on pizza because they were fruit. Hilda had patiently argued that technically, tomatoes were fruit, so his argument was invalid. He’d ended up conceding.</p><p>They had discussed marriage, because it made sense, after nine years of knowing each other. Alaric was respectful of the fact that Hilda didn’t want a big ceremony if they ever did get married— she was more of a ‘city hall wedding’ just for the purpose of legality. Any celebration would be a more informal party just for their friends and them to have a good time. He also knew she didn’t intend to change her surname, so he’d recommended that perhaps, he and the girls could change their surnames to ‘Mikaelson.’</p><p>“You’re not serious, are you?” she whispered, looking bewildered as she propped her head up on her hand and looked at him from across the bed one night when the girls were cuddled up between them following a nightmare. “You’d… want their names to be changed?”</p><p>“It’s just a recommendation,” he said quickly, knowing she would be worried about associating them with her family and all the danger that came with it. </p><p>“You’re all Mikaelsons, without the surname,” she murmured, bringing her other hand down to brush stray strands of hair out of the twins’ faces. “Even if things are better after this, it feels wrong, and yes, I’m still scared. As beautiful as ‘Josette Olivia Mikaelson’ and ‘Elizabeth Astrid Mikaelson’ sound… I just feel it’s disrespectful to Jo, you know?”</p><p>Alaric furrowed his brows, seeing her look away. “Hilda, is something wrong?”</p><p>“Before any of that,” she murmured, meaning a potential future marriage, “we need to tell them about her. I don’t want to legally make myself their mother if they don’t want me to. Right now, yes, I’m their mother, but in actuality, I’m still just the surrogate.”</p><p>He took her hand. “You think they won’t want to see you as their mother anymore?” he asked quietly.</p><p>“Not just that,” she murmured. “I was thinking. If we manage to… bring back Davina… the next step might be Cami. Jackson. Going further… Finn. Aiden, because I know how much he meant to Josh, even if he and I weren’t close. We don’t yet know if they’d want to be brought back, but we could try to perform a spell to ask them. I’ve been thinking often, these past days… what about Jo? What about Liv and Luke? I can’t say I’m eager to try to bring Joshua Parker back, but at least those three— they deserve to live. Tyler Lockwood hasn’t been with anyone else since Liv. I know he misses her. Kai’s gone for good and they’ll be safe. I would really, really love for Jo to get to meet the girls. To be their mother, as she should have been.”</p><p>He understood, in that moment, what she was thinking. “And you think she’ll replace you,” he murmured. “You’re thinking… it’ll cause a problem between us all.”</p><p>She nodded slowly. “It’s selfish, I know. I have everything I could ever want. You. Two beautiful little girls. But she would have had that, instead, and I still feel like I took it from her.”</p><p>He pulled her in closer and kissed her cheek. “I know Jo,” he whispered. “And I know she wouldn’t shove you aside, Hilda. I don’t know if… wherever she is… she can look down on us. I don’t know if she’ll even want to come back. If, when we try to contact her, we’ll even be able to find her. But the one thing I know for sure is that, if we can bring her back, she’ll want to be a part of the girls’ lives without forsaking you. She’s their biological mother, but you’re the one that raised them, and they adore you. I love you, Hilda, and I’m not going to let you get hurt because you choose to do something incredibly selfless and bring Jo back into this world. You think it’s selfish, but I think it’s a testament to what an incredible person you are.”</p><p>Hilda half-smiled and looked up at him. “We’ll think about it, then,” she whispered. </p><p>When Hayley had finally arrived at the warehouse, she had brought in the unconscious Malraux wolf, named Keelin. </p><p>They set her down slowly in a chair, and Hilda tied the woman’s hands loosely down just to help her stay still so her pain would be minimized from the venom extraction. Constant movement typically seemed to make it worse.</p><p>The woman was tense when she awoke, and looked at them indignantly. “Relax,” Hayley told her, motioning for her to calm down when she tried to break out of her restraints. “We’re not your enemies. If I left you where you were, you'd be dead already.”</p><p>“Let me guess, we’re on the run from vampires?” said Keelin, glaring at Hayley. “You have the same stink they do.”</p><p>Hilda scrunched up her nose. “I don’t like to consider myself stinky, especially not when I’m wearing DIOR.”</p><p>Hayley stifled a laugh and went to stand in front of Keelin. “Hilda here is an Original vampire. Me? I’m special. I'm a hybrid. Half-vampire, half-werewolf. And considering that I saved your ass, you should show me some respect.”</p><p>Keelin was still displeased. “How do I know you weren't the one that led them to me?”</p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes. “Seriously? I’m a mother of two and Hayley has a daughter two years older than mine— we don’t have time to start drama and get innocent wolves caught by lesser vampires. The point is, darling, they know who you are and are trying to get your head on a pike. We’re trying to help you live. Sit still.”</p><p>The wolf scoffed, looking down at her restraints. “It’s not like I have a choice.” She watched as Hilda brought over the mask for extracting venom. “Hey, look, I don't know what kind of pervy stuff you're into, but I am not that kind of girl.”</p><p>“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘kinky,’ not necessarily ‘pervy,’” said Hilda indifferently as she started to adjust the tubes. “This is just to extract your venom. Yes, it’ll hurt, but the pain won’t be so bad if you sit still, please and thank you, with a cherry on top.”</p><p>Obviously, using the ‘pretty please’ hadn’t calmed Keelin, which was a bummer, because Hilda was certain that her daughters’ method of getting what they wanted would have worked. “Why are you doing this to me?” she asked shakily.</p><p>“We’re trying to save our family,” said Hayley, pointing at the coffins before going over to open one of the lids, revealing a sleeping Freya. “Keelin, the people in there are dying. The only thing keeping them alive is a sleep spell that keeps them linked to Hilda, who’s their sister, and the only one that can cure them is <em>her</em>.” She nodded to Freya. “She's a witch, and she left us instructions on how to wake her up early. The only thing we’re missing is your venom. Once she gets on her feet, we can give her the ingredients we got. And, with any luck, no one has to die.”</p><p>Keelin licked her lips slowly. “So if I give you what you want, you’ll let me go?”</p><p>Hayley nodded. “You have my word.”</p><p>Hilda refrained from smirking at her as she carefully slipped the mask onto Keelin. While they were waiting, Hayley called Mary so that she could speak to Hope. Hilda had texted Alaric, who let her know the twins were already sleeping. He sent her a picture of the two girls cuddled up to their respective teddy bears. Hilda had opened Rebekah’s coffin and texted back a picture of Rebekah, then Freya, saying, <em>‘Meanwhile, these are my sleeping beauties. They still look just as glamorous even when they’re not awake.’</em></p><p>It hadn’t taken much longer for them to get enough of Keelin’s venom. Hilda had removed the mask, and Keelin had massaged her face, letting out a grunt of discomfort. “You got my venom,” she announced. “When do I get to go?”</p><p>“As soon as we know it works,” said Hayley as she got the syringe to wake Freya. </p><p>“And when will that be?”</p><p>“You’ll see,” said Hilda simply. Hayley handed her the syringe, and she moved to her sister’s coffin, stabbing it into her chest. Freya sat up with a loud gasp, looking at Hilda in shock at first, as if she didn’t recognize her, then quickly nodding as her sister helped her out of the coffin.</p><p>“Spell’s ready for you,” said Hilda happily as she started to set up the vials of the seven strains of wolf venom. She brought her a bowl and another vial of her own blood. “And here’s my blood, to undo the link.”</p><p>“How much longer do we have?” asked Hayley urgently as Freya knelt down.</p><p>“Maybe an hour,” responded the eldest Mikaelson. “Assuming they live that long.”</p><p>Hilda held up her fingers to ensure they had all the materials. “We have all the venoms, my blood, the bowl, the bag of Kol and I’s dark objects, and me, so that our combined strength can bring about the spell.”</p><p>Hayley put her hand on Hilda’s arm. “We’ve got company, first,” she said, tapping her ear to show she’d heard someone coming.</p><p>Keelin’s heart skipped a beat. “Hayley, let me go, please? If it's vampires, they're gonna kill me.”</p><p>“We’ll handle them,” said Hilda, nodding to Hayley before the two sped off to the main area of the warehouse, where three vehicles had driven up, several vampires pouring out of them.</p><p>“Took a long time, but we finally caught the both of you,” said one of the men, stepping forward.</p><p>Hayley took up a defensive position, but Hilda let out a giggle, making the vampires stare at her. “One, two, three…” she waved her finger over their heads and then shook her head. “Seriously? You brought less than twenty people? That’s depressing. Where’s the fun in that?”</p><p>“Oh, there’s still fun to be had,” said one of the female vampires. More vampires started to get out of the cars, and Hilda gave a dramatic sigh.</p><p>“You’re missing the point,” she said, shaking her head again. “The last time your little minions caught me, I went twenty seven to one, with my daughters hiding off to the side. The most I’ve gone up against completely alone is around… almost sixty, I believe, and I was the only one left standing. Even with your new additions, there aren’t more than thirty of you here, and you’re up against an Original vampire and a hybrid. Do you really wish to die today?”</p><p>“They must be wishing it,” mused Hayley, furrowing her eyebrows. “They seem to forget that for five years, our anger has been building up because they’re being dicks who won’t let us go anyone with our daughters.”</p><p>“Tough talk for two outnumbered vampires,” sneered the first man that’d spoken to them.</p><p>Hilda shrugged, shrugging off her jacket. “It’s your funeral.”</p><p>It didn’t matter that they were outnumbered. Hilda had more fighting experience than all of them put together, and Hayley had a bite that killed, which meant that together, they’d decimated every last body. At one point, Hayley had transformed into a wolf to deal with the last four vampires left, and she’d signaled for Hilda to get back to Freya. The Original had sped off to where her sister was performing the spell, and gave her her hand, letting her channel her to ensure the antidote went into completion.</p><p>“Just in time,” panted Freya, the bowl holding a murky red mixture as the spell was completed. “Do you have—?”</p><p>“Syringes?” offered Hilda, reaching into the bag that lay off to the side. “You bet.” She extracted two, and Freya poured half of the solution in each tube. </p><p>Freya held hers up and walked to Elijah’s coffin. “Inject it right into Kol’s neck wound. I’ll wake Rebekah as soon as I inject Elijah.”</p><p>Hilda nodded and went to her twin’s coffin, popping the lid open and tilting his head to the side, injecting him and stroking his hair to wait for him to wake up.</p><p>Elijah was the first that shot up. He stopped, listened, and seemed to hear that Hayley was off in another part of the warehouse before speeding off.</p><p>“A ‘thank you’ would have been appreciated,” sighed Freya, heading toward Rebekah as Kol shot up, reaching for his neck. There was no sign that Marcel had ever bitten him.</p><p>“I’m starving,” said Kol, jumping out of the coffin and pulling his sister into a hug.</p><p>“Lucky for you, I think I know where we might find some food,” said Hilda with a grin.</p><p>“Please tell me we’ll get something fresh,” said Rebekah, stretching her arms up before she climbed out of her coffin. She rubbed her eyes and looked over at Keelin, who looked nervous. “Who’s that?”</p><p>Freya didn’t answer. She pursed her lips, and wove her hand, making Keelin go unconscious. “She’s our temporary hostage. I barely had enough of her venom to do the spell, which means I need more.”</p><p>Kol and Hilda furrowed their brows in unison. “Can’t you just do a— nevermind.” Kol patted the back of his head. “I guess a spell to multiply the amount is going to be difficult when you’ve used it up.”</p><p>Rebekah went over to examine Keelin, and Hilda shot her a warning look. “Bex, we don’t feed on the hostages.”</p><p>“Well, we’ve got to feed on something,” she said. “What do you suggest?”</p><p>Hilda grinned. “Well, don’t take my word for it, but I’m pretty sure the Louisiana State Department of Corrections buses inmates around near the border sometimes. We might be able to find a nice big load of prisoners that can serve a greater cause.”</p><p>Kol put his arm around her. “Let’s get to it then, sister, I’m far too famished to wait around. And if mine ears aren’t deceiving me, I believe our brother’s having a snog fest with his hybrid lover.”</p><p>Hilda nudged him in the ribs, pulling him and Rebekah along, knowing that keeping them waiting for food wouldn’t be a good idea.</p><p>The sun was already starting to come up when they found the expected bus. With ease, the three Originals got the driver to stop, and were able to get the prisoners out. Kol had been insistent on letting them try to run for their lives, because he ‘could use a good workout.’</p><p>Elijah, Hayley, and Freya had caught up not long after, with Keelin in tow, albeit asleep.</p><p>The sound of panting and screaming was an odd sound to listen to, when one wasn’t a vampire. But for Hilda, this was the sound that let her know that at least, her siblings would be in a good mood.</p><p>“I admit, I do like a good chase,” Kol told one of the prisoners he’d caught, while Hilda followed. She’d already had enough to drink. “However, I am quite famished, so…” he bit into the man’s neck, and he let out a piercing yell.</p><p>“Good lord, that one has some lungs on him,” Hilda heard Rebekah say off at the edge of the woods.</p><p>The man didn’t stand a chance against Kol, especially not when he was one, starved, two, excited, and three, angry, because, as Hilda well knew despite not having asked him, being back in the real world meant facing the fact that he wouldn’t be seeing Davina no matter where he went.</p><p>“KOL!” they heard Elijah yell. “Would you please?”</p><p>Hilda and Kol shared a mischievous look before the younger twin bit through the man’s throat, chomping out a massive chunk that killed him instantly.</p><p>“Thank you,” called their elder brother, and the twins started to make their way back to where the rest of their siblings were.</p><p>“I can sense Klaus is still in New Orleans,” they heard Freya saying. “Most likely somewhere underground. I can't get a read on exactly where, unless I'm in the city itself.”</p><p>They moved through the bushes and saw Elijah was using a handkerchief to clean off the blood smeared on his lips. “That’s gonna be a problem,” Hayley told them, her hands on her hips. “I have contacts in New Orleans. As you can imagine, the place is crawling with vampires, all of whom hate all of us. Whatever we do, we need to do it fast.”</p><p>Freya clasped her hands together. “Well, I wasn't planning on a pub crawl. I don't want to stay any longer than we have to. But we need to go.”</p><p>Kol looked confused. “Whoa. Wait... Wait, we're not doing this today?”</p><p>Rebekah scoffed lightly, looking at him in disbelief. “Hasn't Nik suffered enough?”</p><p>“Yes,” answered Kol. “And I've died. Twice. I'm not about to give Marcel a shot at a third. Marcel spared Hilly before— who knows how lenient he’ll be this time. Now, I say, we draw that Muppet out of town. And when he's gone—”</p><p>“I have been away from my daughter long enough,” said Hayley sharply. “If you’re afraid—”</p><p>“Hilly’s been away from her <em>daughters</em>, plural, for just as long as you, hasn’t she?” Kol shot back. “It's called being sensible. Hilda’s been fine for five years. She might never make it back to her children if we all go today. Until Freya can make enough cure with her werewolf hostage, Marcel can basically chew through our bloody throats.”</p><p>“Enough,” Elijah prompted, standing up and adjusting the cuffs of his suit. “We’re all in danger. We free Niklaus <em>today</em>. Even if I have to burn that city to the ground.”</p><p>The twins shared a look as Elijah walked toward the car. “We’ll go quickly,” offered Hilda, giving Kol a reassuring look. “We’ll all be fine. I know the girls are eager to meet you.”</p><p>Kol sighed, smiled, and put his arm back around his sister. “Fine, Hilly, but I expect them to be waiting for me with a bottle of bourbon.”</p><p>Hilda smirked. “Expect a glass of cranberry juice. It’s their ‘little kid’ blood.”</p><p>
  <em>A/N: Happy 800 pages! I gotta say, I'm heavily considering rushing the ending a lil bit to get on to my next story. I don't think y'all will mind cause I already changed a lot of canon and I've been studying all these Reddit posts about how the Hollow could have been defeated, and I think that I have a potential solution that would make sense, now that Hilda has been added cause let's face it, TO S5 was ridiculous. Pls don't me mad at whatever I end up doing. I'm making major changes to ensure everyone has a happy ending, not because I want to pretend none of it happened in canon. Anything I change from hereon out is to ensure the characters are left satisfied and at peace after how sad my last story was. If that bothers you, you can stop reading and just not accept it as canon for this story. If you've read this far, thanks! Comments are always much appreciated :)</em>
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<a name="section0073"><h2>73. Chapter 73</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <strong>“This is where you absolutely had to do a Locator Spell?”</strong>
</p><p>Kol looked around distastefully at the bell tower of the St. Louis Cathedral. As soon as the family had entered the New Orleans city limits, they’d split off. Elijah and Rebekah had gone to find Josh, Marcel’s right hand man. The rest of them had gone to help Freya with a spell that’d pinpoint Klaus’s location.</p><p>After five years being abandoned, the mounts of pigeon dung made it smell terrible. It was musty and the windows hardly let any sun in from how much grime had accumulated on the glass. </p><p>“Well, when I first moved to New Orleans, I primed this space,” said Freya as they went toward the table that resided in the middle. “Marked it with my magic, made it mine.”</p><p>Kol scrunched up his nose, nudging his sister, who grinned at him. “This dusty bell tower may be your own, but this is Marcel's city, and we're nothing but targets.”</p><p>“All the more reason to let her get to work,” said Hayley impatiently. “The sooner we find Klaus, the sooner we get out of here.”</p><p>Freya gestured for them to stop bickering. “It won’t take long.” She pulled out a small knife and cut into her finger, placing it over the map of New Orleans that lingered from five years prior. As rehearsed, Hilda gave her her hand, and Freya began to chant quickly and quietly, channeling her sister. The blood remained stationary for a moment, before moving toward the Mikaelson Compound.</p><p>“He’s in the Abattoir?” asked Kol, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>“A dungeon,” mused Hilda. “That’s why you sensed him underground, Freya.”</p><p>Freya pulled out her phone to text Elijah, tapping her foot on the ground. There were a few moments of silence before she announced, “Rebekah is going to try to speak with Marcel at the Lafayette Cemetery— a distraction.”</p><p>Hayley tensed. “Is that even safe?”</p><p>“Let’s hope Marcellus doesn’t deem to rip her blood head off,” said Kol lowly. “Where to next? We can’t just barge into the Compound.”</p><p>“Rousseau’s,” murmured Freya. “The tunnels of the city pass under there, and we can use them to access the underground of the Abattoir.” She faced her sister. “Tell Elijah to have Josh get everyone out of there. We’ll go in through the back entrance.”</p><p>Josh, obviously, wasn’t all that pleased about being bossed around, but he wasn’t about to deny three Original vampires, a Mikaelson witch, and a hybrid. </p><p>“Everyone’s out,” the young vampire told them. “Place is yours.”</p><p>“See?” said Kol. “Wasn’t that easier than us having to try to kill everyone?”</p><p>Hilda raised her eyebrows at him, and he stopped. “Would you be so kind as to move that freezer unit, so that we might be able to access the tunnels?” Elijah asked.</p><p>The twins seemed to have a private conversation about this, wondering why Elijah hadn’t just done it himself, since he was stronger than Josh. They deduced it was likely because Josh knew how to move it without damaging it.</p><p>“Are you absolutely certain we’re looking in the right place?” Hilda asked worriedly, not wanting them to be going down a dead end.</p><p>Freya nodded. “We know this tunnel runs the length of the city. Marcel must've carved out a section to serve as his personal dungeon.”</p><p>“Ingenious and sadistic,” muttered Elijah. “Well done, Marcel.”</p><p>“Save the compliments for when he comes to kill us,” said Kol sardonically. “Your flattery might give him pause.” He fake curtsied, and Hilda stifled a giggle.</p><p>Josh walked back toward them from the back room, clapping his hands together. “Okay, you're all set here. So, uh, good luck, break a leg, and I'll just be on my way.”</p><p>Hilda frowned. “Not bloody likely, mate, I can’t say I trust you to go off on your own.”</p><p>“You’ll just rat us out to Marcel,” Kol agreed.</p><p>Freya waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, just snap his neck. We'll be done by the time he wakes.”</p><p>“And if he wakes before that?” inquired Elijah.</p><p>“Then we kill him,” said Kol, shrugging.</p><p>Josh looked offended. “I'm right here, guys.”</p><p>“We’re not killing him,” said Hayley with a cheeky smile in Elijah’s direction.</p><p>Elijah smiled, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, you're probably right. For some reason, he's of value to Marcel. Twins, would you—?”</p><p>They smirked. “Happy to stay and have a drink and eviscerate anyone who tries to follow you.”</p><p>“Good, then, let’s go,” said Freya, beckoning Elijah and Hayley after her. “We’re wasting time.”</p><p>The three disappeared, and with a sigh of distaste, Josh went behind the bar. “Might as well drink,” he said, grabbing a bottle of bourbon and pouring them all some shots. He passed a glass to each twin, though Kol was no longer paying attention, his eyes fixated on a picture of Davina and Cami that hung on the wall. “Well here's to nobody dying today,” said Josh, making Kol turn only slightly sideways to raise the glass to his lips. “Or was I premature? Tell me, what happens when Klaus gets out? What are you guys gonna do? Massacre this whole city?”</p><p>“We’re not going to hurt anyone unless they stop us from freeing our brother,” said Hilda simply. “We want to get him and go. I’d very much like for my family to be happy elsewhere.”</p><p>“I, for one,” said Kol, “hope I never see this filthy city again.” He walked off to the side, and Hilda followed, casting him a concerned look. He shook his head, trying to let her know that he was fine, but she didn’t believe it, and neither did Josh.</p><p>“You know,” said Josh, trying to show Kol that he sort of understood what he was going through. “I was with someone. This guy, Aiden. He died. Killed by your aunt, actually. And afterwards, I hated everything. And I mean <em>everything</em>. Even the sun. You know? It just kept coming up every morning, like it was any other day and the world hadn't completely changed. It's taken forever for me to feel normal again.”</p><p>Hilda felt empathy, because that was exactly what she’d felt both times she lost Kol, and she couldn’t imagine how terrible it was for Josh, having lost Aiden in such a brutal way. But Kol only seemed to be more enraged. “How fortunate for you that you do,” he said, rolling his eyes.</p><p>“You will, too,” Josh said soothingly. “It does get better, Kol. Eventually.”</p><p>Kol scoffed. “Why are you telling me all this?”</p><p>Josh shrugged. “I think Davina would have wanted me to.” His phone buzzed, and he made to look at it, but Kol swiped it before he could get a glimpse. He looked over the screen, and his eyes flashed angrily before showing it to his sister. “Well,” he said darkly, “since we're <em>such</em> good friends now, perhaps you could explain to us what ‘Teutoburg’ means.”</p><p>There was an obvious change in both Josh’s breathing and his heartbeat. “Look, I’m really not a part of this,” he tried to say.</p><p>Hilda stepped forward, glaring at him menacingly. “As a mother of two and the twin of Kol Mikaelson, I know very well when someone is lying.”</p><p>“We heard your heartbeat change,” added Kol. “And you’re receiving coded messages from the man that’s holding our brother captive.”</p><p>“So listen carefully,” sneered Hilda, her temper rising. “If my siblings are about to get ambushed, I’ll make sure this city is painted completely red with blood.”</p><p>“And we’ll burn it to the ground, too,” continued Kol. “This bar and all your little friends will die a slow and painful death. Now, tell us what ‘Teutoburg’ means.”</p><p>Josh gulped. “It’s… a battle where the bad guys caught the good guys off guard. Marcel is warning me that you're all here so that I can spread word to the rest of our guys.”</p><p>“So you can keep us busy and Marcel can kill us,” muttered Kol before snapping Josh’s neck. “You’re lucky Davina liked you.” He looked at Hilda, and the two nodded before speeding off to the Lafayette Cemetery, knowing that Rebekah must be in trouble.</p><p>She wasn’t in mortal danger, but she was on the ground, desiccated, with several wooden arrows lodged into her back. A woman and a man were standing over her casually, as if they were merely babysitting her. “We could get a pretty penny for Rebekah Mikaelson,” the man said.</p><p>“Yes, we could,” agreed the woman. “But if Marcel wants her safe, then I'm gonna keep her safe.”</p><p>At this, Kol launched forward, ripping out the male vampire’s heart. “Well, he won’t be taking anyone, as he is rather indisposed,” he said as Hilda moved forward, waving at the female vampire. </p><p>“You’re not keeping anyone either, darling,” she said. The woman didn’t seem to want to fight, so she sped off, and the twins didn’t care to follow, even though they could have caught her. Hilda knelt down and yanked the arrows out of their sister’s back. “Wakey wakey, Bex.”</p><p>There was a ‘woosh,’ and four vampires surrounded them. Hilda took the two on her end, grabbing their heads and bashing them into each other before thrusting her hands out and shoving their hearts through the other side of their chest. Behind her, Kol had easily taken down one of the vampires, but had another in his hold and was punching the man repeatedly, his face contorted with rage and blood splattering everywhere.</p><p>“Kol!” said Hilda, moving toward him as Rebekah got to her feet behind them. “I think you got him.”</p><p>He panted heavily, looking to the tomb behind the man, bearing the name ‘Davina Claire.’ “Can we leave this awful city now?” he asked desperately.</p><p>She nodded, and turned to Rebekah, who stared down at the dead bodies. “Where’s Elijah?” she asked.</p><p>“The Compound, probably,” said Hilda, offering Kol a tissue to clean his hands. “Shall we head there?”</p><p>“No, let’s go to where we parked the car near that drainage pipe in the forest,” said Rebekah, pulling out her phone. “I’ll tell them to meet us there. They should have gotten him by now… I hope.”</p><p>The three siblings made their way there, and while they waited on the rocks by the small creek that flowed out of the pipe, it seemed Hilda became the object of their curiosity, because an interrogation seemed to ensue.</p><p>“Are you and Alaric an item yet?” asked Rebekah. “It’s been ages since you were trying to chat him up that first time in the bar. Did you manage it?”</p><p>Her face turned red, and Kol and Rebekah shared a mischievous look. “Nine years later!” gasped Rebekah. “Now that, darlings, is <em>dedication</em>.”</p><p>“You waited over ten years to sleep with Marcel, did you not?” said Kol pointedly. “Maybe that’s just because he was a child when you met him.”</p><p>Rebekah shut up, and Hilda let out a hearty laugh. “It’s still quite recent, in terms of it being official. It’ll be two years in June.”</p><p>“Barely two years? Blimey. You two weren’t in a rush at all.”</p><p>“I think it’s sweet,” said Rebekah. “You took your time building up a love that would last. I bet your little munchkins are appreciative of the fact you two get along so well.”</p><p>“I’d hardly call our nieces ‘munchkins,’ Bex,” Kol teased, nudging her.</p><p>Rebekah rolled her eyes. “They’re tiny little things. I just really hate I didn’t get to see them when they were born…”</p><p>“I wish you’d have gotten to,” sighed Hilda sadly. </p><p>They started to feel unsettled when their siblings failed to show up. Rebekah pulled out her phone to call their brother. “Elijah, this is me not worrying that you were supposed to be here 20 minutes ago. Please call me back.”</p><p>“It’s been too long,” said Kol, pacing back and forth. “We should go.”</p><p>“We’re not leaving them,” said Hilda firmly. “Maybe I should go in and find them.”</p><p>“Absolutely not, Hilly! Marcel could be shredding our family to pieces as we speak.”</p><p>Rebekah winced. “Well, perhaps they simply don't have cell phone service in a drainage pipe. They'll be here, Kol. And while we have a moment, I wanted to say thank you, to the both of you.”</p><p>The twins frowned. “For what?”</p><p>“For coming to get me,” she said simply. “So I could be sitting here, annoyed at you.”</p><p>Hilda batted her lashes. “I’m not that bad, am I, Bex?”</p><p>“You’re awful,” Rebekah confirmed.</p><p>"You're worse," said Kol, sticking out his tongue. "You're the baby."</p><p>"I'm not the youngest one in the family anymore, though, am I?" she said pointedly. "First there was Hope, and then the twins. Which one is older, Hilly?"</p><p>"Well, Josie was born first, but biologically, we have no idea which one of them is really the older one. The twins don't really understand that concept and they don't mind it, they call the other their 'little sister' anyway. But if anything, Lizzie is the new youngest Mikaelson."</p><p>"She's was also the one that fussed a lot, wasn't she?" asked Kol. "How is that now?"</p><p>Hilda sighed. "We'll talk about that another time in detail. But it would seem that Lizzie may have bipolar disorder."</p><p>Kol was unable to convey his feelings, because they all sat up at the sound of footsteps. They whirled around to see Elijah, Freya, and Hayley dragging Klaus out. “Nik!” cried Rebekah, running to embrace him.</p><p>“Hey, you can hug him later,” said Freya urgently. “We need to leave.”</p><p>“Marcel’s right behind us!” exclaimed Hayley. “Go— Go!”</p><p>“Actually, I’m right here.”</p><p>They turned around to see Marcel blocking their path to the car. “You shouldn’t have come back,” he said darkly. “None of you.”</p><p>“That’s what family does,” snapped Hayley. “We fight for each other.”</p><p>“Yeah, so I’ve heard,” muttered Marcel. “Though it didn't really work out for me, did it?”</p><p>Kol threw his hands in the air. “Oh, for God's sake, you were never a Mikaelson, get over it. Don't you have a city to run? Vampires to boot out of town?”</p><p>Marcel took a menacing step toward Kol, but Hilda and Rebekah sped forward to cut him off. “If you want to kill one of us, you’ll have to kill us all!” </p><p>“Hey, don’t push me, Rebekah,” Marcel said, holding his hands up.</p><p>“Then get on with it,” the youngest Mikaelson challenged. “Let's end this once and for all.”</p><p>Klaus staggered forward. “That’s enough.” He tried to draw a steady breath. “That's enough, Marcel, you've won. New Orleans was our city once. Now it's yours. For good.”</p><p>Marcel stared at him in both disbelief and indignation. “Is the great Klaus Mikaelson accepting defeat? Or is this all just another distraction?”</p><p>“Neither,” said the Original hybrid. “In fact, despite your appalling behavior, I'm offering you a chance at peace. Attempt to kill us all, and you will be making a mistake. Any who survived would no doubt return to seek revenge, bringing our enemies back to your city in our wake. And even if you did manage to eliminate us all, one day my daughter would come for you, and perhaps my nieces will join her, as will their children after that. On and on for all your days— an endless cycle of violence you will bring upon yourself. Or... Or we leave and we never come back.”</p><p>The vampire before them was trembling, not out of fear, but out of indescribable rage. “After all that time buried in a hole, you <em>still</em> got some nerve. Yeah, well, you stand there with a straight face and try to sell this like it's your choice. But here's the truth. I could kill all of you right now. And tonight I would sleep like a baby. Hell, that's what you would do. You've destroyed more people, taken more lives, ended more families than anyone who's ever lived. All because you can. But here's the other truth. Despite being raised by you people, I am nothing like any of you. In fact, I'm proud as hell I'm not a Mikaelson. I beat you all without turning into you. And now you can live the rest of your lives knowing that the only reason that you exist is because I am showing you mercy.” He pointed at their car. “Now go. And don't ever come back.”</p><p>They were glad to leave. With cold stares, they piled into the car. Hayley went into the driver’s seat, and Elijah went beside her. Hilda pulled Kol and Klaus into the very back row with her, bringing out the blankets that Hayley had had placed in the car beforehand. Klaus was so tired, he fell right asleep on Hilda’s lap, and she stroked his hair gently, leaning onto Kol and holding his hand tightly. Rebekah and Freya sat silently in front of them, and the journey back to Hayley’s house was quiet and almost sullen. </p><p>They pulled up into the dark driveway, seeing that Mary’s truck was already gone. As expected, she must have headed back as soon as she heard they were well and returning, because she didn’t very much fancy seeing the Originals and needed to return to the Bayou with the other Crescent Wolves.</p><p>“Dare I ask why you still have that?” asked Freya as Hilda and Kol climbed out. She was seeing that Kol had Josh’s phone in his hand.</p><p>Kol shrugged, making way for Klaus to climb out behind them. “Just doing a favor for a friend of a friend. Now I'm ready for a bourbon.”</p><p>Klaus lingered where he was, looking up at the house and drawing a deep breath as Freya and Kol made their way to the door, where Alaric was waiting for them.</p><p>“What is it?” asked Elijah softly.</p><p>Klaus half-smiled. “Five years has never felt so long. Thank you for not abandoning me.”</p><p>“Well, we did consider it,” teased Rebekah. “The vote was rather close.” As they moved on ahead, Hilda stopped and pulled her brother into a proper hug before following the others into the house, since Hayley seemed to want to talk to him alone.</p><p>Alaric pulled her in for a gentle kiss as soon as she walked through the doorway. “Hey,” he told her, sighing in relief knowing that she was okay.</p><p>“It’s good to see you,” she murmured, letting her head briefly rest on his chest before they moved further in, to where Kol was already digging into the drinks that Alaric had prepared for them.</p><p>“Thanks, mate,” said Kol, downing half a bottle before shaking Alaric’s hand properly. “I suppose it’s a bit late, but I ought to give you the proper ‘you hurt my sister and I’ll kill you’ speech, eh?”</p><p>“Don’t be ridiculous, Kol,” Hilda whispered with a laugh. “It’s been ages, he’s not going to hurt me.”</p><p>“I get it,” said Alaric, holding his hands up in surrender. “Though, I’m pretty sure I should be more worried about her being the first to retaliate if anything happens. I swear to you, I’m not going to hurt her, ever.”</p><p>“Good,” said Kol. The twins turned to see Hayley leading Klaus upstairs, presumably to see Hope. </p><p>“I took the liberty of having the girls sleep in our bed,” Alaric told Hilda. “I figured Klaus might want to see Hope.”</p><p>She pecked him on the cheek. “You, my dear, are wonderful.” She looked around at her siblings, and waved for them to quietly come to get settled in the rooms. “You can see the girls in the morning,” she told them.</p><p>Freya, Rebekah, Kol, and Klaus were all able to get their own rooms. As expected, Hayley invited Elijah in to sleep beside her, and when all were cleaned up, Alaric and Hilda went to find their girls were half-awake, rubbing their eyes.</p><p>“Mama,” said Josie quietly. “We heard noises.”</p><p>“Are our—” Lizzie stopped to yawn. “Uncles and Aunts here?”</p><p>“They are, my princesses,” Hilda whispered, kissing their foreheads. “You can see them in the morning, okay?”</p><p>“Papa?” Lizzie started to climb up, wanting Alaric to hug her. “Why can’t we see them now?”</p><p>“Everyone’s really tired right now,” he said, hugging her and tucking her back in beside Josie, who’d snuggled up to Hilda. “Like your mama said, in the morning, you get to meet everyone. When you’re well rested.”</p><p>The twins gave them puppy eyes before coming closer to the middle of the bed, letting their parents climb in on either side. </p><p>“Mama?” Josie yawned, covering her mouth. “They’re the ones who say ‘Always and Forever,’ right?”</p><p>“Yes, baby,” she said, stroking her hair.</p><p>Lizzie giggled, stretching her arms up before closing her eyes again. “Always and Forever. I like that.”</p>
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<a name="section0074"><h2>74. Chapter 74</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hilda woke up early the next morning to get the girls ready.</strong>
</p><p>It seemed Hayley had also woken up early. They bustled around brushing the girls’ hair and putting on their clothes. Alaric was downstairs helping the others get food, though they seemed to have wanted something more elegant and had somehow compelled several servers to come to their beck and call.</p><p>“One day,” the two women heard Klaus saying as they led the girls out. “We're in the middle of nowhere, the house is cloaked, we weren't followed, and I’m not asking!”</p><p>The door opened, and everyone outside went silent at the sight of the three little girls. “Everybody,” said Hayley as the Originals walked up to see their nieces. “Look who’s awake.”</p><p>Klaus had a look of shock on his face. He came to stand in front of his daughter, who looked up shyly, overwhelmed by all the people around her. “Hello,” she said shakily.</p><p>“Hello,” Klaus whispered back. Hope looked at him for only a moment longer before tugging at Hayley’s shirt. “Mom, can I go play in the garden?”</p><p>Hayley stroked her hair reassuringly. “Yeah, sure.” Hope gave her a small smile before trotting off.</p><p>The twins were far too excited to back out of the hellos. “Hope’s just shy,” giggled Lizzie when she saw Klaus looking forlorn. She and Josie held their hands out to whoever wanted to shake it first.</p><p>Klaus smiled politely and bent down a bit, shaking their hands. “It’s good to see you two now that you’re bigger,” he told them.</p><p>“You’re Uncle Nik,” said Josie proudly. “My mama showed me a picture of you.”</p><p>“Hope says you paint,” added Lizzie. “No one else paints.”</p><p>“Perhaps she and I can show you two how,” he told them, making the twins grin appreciatively.</p><p>Kol decided he wanted to kneel down to their level. The twins immediately knew who he was as well. “Uncle Kol,” they said in unison. “Mama’s twin.”</p><p>“Remind me again,” he teased. “Which one’s Astrid and which one’s Olivia?”</p><p>“I’m Josette Olivia,” corrected Josie.</p><p>“And I’m Elizabeth Astrid,” Lizzie continued.</p><p>Kol pretended to smack himself on the head. “I forget. You two grew a lot, didn’t you? You’re almost as tall as me!”</p><p>“Only because you’re sitting,” Lizzie pointed out. She squealed and put a finger on his arm, touching the sleeve of his shirt. “Blue is my favorite color!” She pointed at Freya’s shirt, which was also blue.</p><p>“Is it now?” Kol asked. “It’s my favorite color, too.”</p><p>“Well, if I’d have known we all had to wear our favorite colors, I wouldn’t have worn black,” laughed Rebekah as she, too, knelt down. Her eyes shone lovingly as she opened her arms, inviting the girls in for a hug. They jumped in immediately, and Hilda could see how happy Rebekah felt, knowing that she could finally spend time with all her nieces. “You two are so precious.”</p><p>“I look like you, Aunt Bex,” said Lizzie, holding up a strand of her own blonde hair. “And Aunt Freya.”</p><p>Freya smiled at her. “Yes, you do. We’re the only three blondes in the family.”</p><p>“My hair’s brown like yours,” said Josie, pointing at Elijah, though she let her head tilt to the side in amusement. “Mama and Papa were right. You <em>always</em> wear a suit.”</p><p>Elijah pretended to be offended, holding his chest. “I wanted to look fancy. I was told we were meeting three princesses today.”</p><p>“Oh, Elijah, that makes the rest of us look bad!” said Rebekah.</p><p>Lizzie giggled. “No, we don’t have dresses right now!”</p><p>“Yeah, Elijah, it was a casual occasion,” Kol said, smirking back at his brother.</p><p>The Originals were bombarded with about a thousand more questions and comments after that, which they were pleased to answer. Klaus had gone off to the side to talk to Hayley, and in the meantime, Josie and Lizzie had wanted to sit on Freya and Rebekah’s laps to pretend they were taller, then asked Elijah to try a handstand, then they’d shown him that they could do cartwheels, and the morning had progressed with the twins not wanting to eat until they needed a break from talking.</p><p>“It’s almost lunchtime and you’re barely having your pancakes,” sighed Hilda as she and Alaric sat with them, letting them dig their forks into their plates rapidly so they could keep up the conversation.</p><p>“But Aunt Bex was going to braid our hair!” whined Lizzie.</p><p>“And Aunt Freya said she could show us her magic!” Josie chimed in. </p><p>“The day has many hours, you’ll still be able to see all that,” Alaric promised. “Not to mention that there are going to be months and years of getting to see your Mama’s side of the family to learn everything you can.”</p><p>Lizzie hummed and swung her legs under the chair. “Why don’t we have a Grandma and Grandpa here?”</p><p>Hilda brushed their hair out of their faces as they leaned forward to nip at the edge of their pancakes. “Well, I don’t have my Mama or Papa anymore,” she told them quietly. “And I don’t have two of my brothers either. You didn’t get to meet your Uncles Finn and Henrik. You know what we talked about before, right? Sometimes, people get sick or hurt and they die. One day, you’ll get to meet them, maybe, if we find a way to contact them.”</p><p>The girls had had more questions about this. After Freya had gone to the barn where she was keeping Keelin, and when Elijah and Rebekah had gone inside to relax, the twins had sat on Hilda and Alaric’s laps, chatting with Kol about Finn and Henrik. The Mikaelson twins did their best to relay their best memories of their siblings, but when the twins got restless and decided to go run around fetching flowers, they changed the subject, and told Kol about their plans for the Salvatore Boarding School.</p><p>“That’s a brilliant idea, actually,” said Kol, raising his brows. “I really would have liked it if there was a place to learn how to be a calm vampire, when we first turned.”</p><p>“I really hope it’ll help anyone who comes through those doors, even a little bit,” Alaric told him. “I know there’s not much I can do, as a human, but at least I can focus on the administrative stuff to make sure it’s not drastically different from a normal school.”</p><p>Kol shrugged. “You’ll be a resource too, because at least they can see that a human accepts them. Think about it… they’ll have their mates and all that but any pals will be just as supernatural. They’ll feel accepted in their own community and between communities but at home, with human parents, they might not feel that way. At least, if you’re there, they’ll feel like they’re respected by some humans, too.”</p><p>Alaric cast him a smile. “That’s a really good way of putting it. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”</p><p>“Uncle Kol!”</p><p>The twins ran up holding several flowers. “Are those for me?” he asked. They nodded and placed them carefully on his lap before turning to Hilda with big eyes. “Can we siphon just a little, pretty please?”</p><p>“What are you planning?” asked Hilda.</p><p>“To make a flower crown!”</p><p>She offered them her arm, and they each siphoned for only a few seconds before waving their hands over the flowers. The three adults watched as the flowers knotted themselves together, creating a neat ring that they then placed atop Kol’s head. “Ta-da!” said Lizzie. “You can be the king of the garden.”</p><p>“You just need a queen!” said Josie.</p><p>Kol gave them a pained look. “I-I’m going to go in and get some um, water,” he said, getting up quickly. “Thanks for the crown.”</p><p>Hilda stood up when she saw him dash off. “I’ll go check on him,” she whispered to Alaric, who made sure the girls didn’t follow.</p><p>She found him in the kitchen, already downing a bottle of bourbon. “I-I’m sorry,” he said shakily. “I know they didn’t mean to, but I just thought of Davina… she would have been twenty-three today. I wonder what she would have done with the time. She would have made the world a better place.”</p><p>“Hey.” She hugged him from behind, rubbing her hands soothingly over his chest. “It’s okay. Breathe. We’re going to figure out how to bring her back, Kol, I swear to you.”</p><p>“And if we can’t do it, Hilly?” he asked, turning to face her. </p><p>“We will do it,” she said confidently. “We’ve made it through things that no one else has. Our family is getting along perfectly fine for the first time in centuries, <em>all of us</em>. We’ll manage it. I’ve already got some research done, we just need a strong enough source of magic. I promise you, we’ll figure it out.”</p><p>“This just isn’t fair,” he said, letting his fist slam weakly on the counter. “Everyone’s happy and I’m here alone.”</p><p>Hilda put her hands on his shoulders. “You’re not alone, brother. I’m here with you. Our sisters and brothers are here for you, too. I give you my word that we’ll work together to bring her back to you so that you can be happy again.”</p><p>He gulped. “I think I need to leave, Hilly. I think I need to… to withdraw. At least for a little bit.”</p><p>“Then withdraw. Do whatever you need to do to feel better.”</p><p>“A part of me doesn’t want to be alone. I want to be here, to get to be an uncle to the girls. I’ve already missed so much and I don’t want you to suffer…”</p><p>“You and I have had each other’s backs for a thousand years and we’ve always known that sometimes, we need a break. If traveling makes you feel better, so be it. I won’t suffer. I’ll miss you terribly, but I know your absence will only be to help you get better, and I respect that.”</p><p>He took the bottle of bourbon and held it up as if he was going to drink, but he stopped himself. “I just wanted to leave today, and the others didn’t agree. Would it be wrong if I went off on my own?”</p><p>“No, it wouldn't be. It’s for your mental health, and that’s your priority, not anything else.”</p><p>“I spent five years trapped in a house with them. I knew you were out here, probably having all these problems and having to become a mother while protecting us. Here we are, trapped in a house again, and it’s already driving me insane. I’m a terrible twin, Hilly, I always leave you here alone.”</p><p>She cupped his face. “But I’m not alone, Kol. You’re my other half and we’ll always have memories to fall back on. It’s what got us through being daggered so many times. I have Alaric and my girls. We’ll call you and check on you and when you’re ready, you can always come back. I know you’ll be okay no matter what, and that’s what matters to me. I’m trying to teach the girls that it’s okay to not always be at your twins’ side physically, because everyone has different needs and sometimes, what’s best for one might not work for the other, and that’s okay.”</p><p>“Your girls have the best mother they could have wished for,” he told her. “You’re everything Esther wasn’t. Good. You help them feel secure despite their differences. That was what we needed when we were children, Hilly.”</p><p>“I do my best,” she said sheepishly.</p><p>“Your best is more than enough. Those girls will feel ostracized or broken, because they had you to guide them. I just wish I could be a better uncle to them. They clearly want to get to know me more because I’m your twin, and yet here I am, thinking of escaping to a faraway island…”</p><p>“If you want to travel, Kol, you ought to travel. Just as long as you send us pictures along the way. Maybe a postcard. I just want you to be happy with life. And I know that happiness will come when Davina is back. But before we can bring her back, you need to feel better about your life so that you can put your all into the spell and ensure she can walk with us again. I know you’ll do anything to bring her back, and I know she would want you to find joy and heal even slightly before she returns.”</p><p>Kol pulled her into a hug. “I’ll call you every other day,” he offered. “I’ll try to visit at least once a month, to see how good that school of yours is. I might even ask Bex to join me, just so that I’m not entirely alone. I worry for her, Hilly. Whatever she and Marcel spoke about before we arrived… she’s feeling sad even if she won’t admit. She loved him a lot. I think she could use a good trip, too.”</p><p>“Even better,” Hilda told him. “You’d fare better with each other for company.” She tiptoed to kiss his cheek. “I love you, Kol, and I want the best for you. We are all going to have our happy endings, no matter what it takes. We’ve been through too much to have that denied to us. We deserve to be happy and healthy.”</p><p>“Do you think you’d become human, somehow?” he asked her. “Maybe… when we’ve all settled down? Because I was thinking… even if we do bring Davina back, she’s mortal. There’s no more white oak, and we cannot die. How could I continue to live after she eventually passes away?”</p><p>“I was thinking the same thing. I don’t know how I’d survive watching Alaric and the girls die, and see myself still standing there. I couldn’t handle it. If there’s a way, I’ll find it. I think it’s time for us to be human again.”</p><p>“Reckon we might be able to be witches?” he asked with a weak chuckle, not sure how they were going to manage that. “I’d kill to have powers again.”</p><p>“So would I, since I’m going to be teaching magic. And it’ll be nice to not… have issues with control anymore.”</p><p>He furrowed his brows. “How do you manage it? Living with <em>three</em> humans.”</p><p>“Alaric lets me feed a little bit whenever I need it, but I’ve gotten much better at tolerating blood bags whenever the girls aren’t nearby. They know about the vampire thing, of course, which is why they love cranberry juice… they think it’s fascinating. I worry because Alaric was telling me that they mentioned becoming hybrids. The twins can become Heretics if they die with vampire blood in their system. I don’t want them to experience that problem. Because if I do become human and that happens to them… how will I be able to help them? Not to mention we’re worried about something that may potentially be a problem in the future…”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Their Coven’s curse— The Merge ritual. We’re thinking they may not have to do it, because there are no other members, no leader, and they’re both siphons, meaning they can’t generate magic off their own accord, and performing the ritual wouldn’t really be possible. But on the off chance they have to do it, the preventative measure would be for them both to ingest vampire blood beforehand. Whoever loses will come back as a Heretic, and at least they both get to live, but…”</p><p>Kol bit his lip. “I’ll research what I can while I’m traveling.”</p><p>“No, Kol, you don’t—”</p><p>“Let me at least do you this favor, Hilly. Those girls shouldn’t have to go through that when they’re the only members of the Coven left. We’ll figure that out, too, I swear it.”</p><p>She pulled him into another hug. “Have I told you lately that you’re the best brother ever?”</p><p>He chuckled. “And have I told you that you’re the best sister ever?” He rubbed her back. “To think that nine years ago, we were waking up after what happened in 1914, we were bloodthirsty and you were too shy to make a proper move on the man you fancied. Now… so much has changed.”</p><p>Kol had ended up going to speak to Rebekah to invite her to join him. When evening fell, they said their goodbyes, and Hilda bade them farewell with a proper hug before sending them off, hoping they would be alright.</p><p>“The house will be quieter than expected,” said Alaric as they sat on their bed, each with their laptops out trying to make spreadsheets and plan for their future students in the fall. He rubbed his eyes and tried to keep typing. “I admit, though, I could probably sleep now even if there was a racket.”</p><p>Hilda scrunched up her noise. “There is a racket, you just can’t hear it.”</p><p>He raised his eyebrows, and she gestured in the direction of Elijah and Hayley’s room, making a face that let him know what was going on. “Oh, I’m glad I’m not a vampire,” he groaned as she covered her ears. He moved to play music on his laptop, and she giggled, closing hers and laying on her side. “Let’s just chat so I can tune it out,” she said, sticking her tongue out. “Er— Kol is going to do some research about The Merge to see if the girls can be spared.”</p><p>“That’s amazing,” he said, setting his own laptop aside and laying in a similar manner, facing her. He then seemed to think of something and got up, going to the backpack he’d brought. He pulled out a hidden bottle of bourbon and a small box, which made Hilda tense.</p><p>“It’s not a ring, don’t worry,” he told her with a grin on his face. “I know you don’t like wearing those.”</p><p>Hilda opened it as he handed it to her, and saw a beautiful emerald necklace. “Once, long ago,” he said quietly as he took it out and moved to put it on her, “I remember that I was at the Grill with someone from the past. You walked in wearing an emerald shirt, and you later told me how, on the day before, you’d been wanting to wear a green dress to the ball your mother organized, but Rebekah had taken the color instead. Green has been my favorite color for a long time. It’s the color of nature and I always thought it was special, but I never appreciated its beauty until I met you. You became someone I love deeply in just a short time of knowing you, and even now, I’m still just as head over heels for you. You don’t have to say yes, but I would like to one day be known as the husband of Hilda Mikaelson, if you’ll let me.”</p><p>Her eyes welled up with tears. “Ric… how could you think I’d say no? Of course it’s a yes.” She pulled him in for a kiss, and he set the box aside, pulling her onto his lap.</p><p>“I love you,” he whispered as he adjusted the necklace onto her. “More than you could ever know. You are my everything, Hilda. I want to be by your side Always and Forever.”</p><p>She sniffled as she stifled a laugh, bringing her sleeve up to dry her eyes. “I didn’t expect it to make me cry, but it did. I love you, Alaric.”</p><p>“Pretty good for an unplanned proposal, huh?” he said sheepishly. That was a lie, he’d rehearsed it several times in his head. He just hadn’t known the moment he would say it all to her. He brought his lips back onto hers, holding her hips. He felt her press her roll them into his, and he raised an eyebrow at her, which made her cover her mouth and laugh again as she let her head fall on his shoulder.</p><p>“I’m sorry— I can still hear them!” she snorted, shaking her head. “I really, really didn’t need to listen to my brother doing that with someone…”</p><p>“Either way, I think we should wait until your siblings are out of the house,” said Alaric, wiggling his eyebrows playfully as she wrapped her legs around his waist. “No offense to you, but you aren’t quiet at all.”</p><p>“What do you want me to do, be silent? I may be undead but that’s another level of creepy. Imagine me just laying there like a board with a blank expression—”</p><p>“That’s more likely to be me because I’m getting old and my heart can’t take it anymore—”</p><p>“Well, you’re the one who’s insistent on being on top even when I’m perfectly fine handling it—”</p><p>“I can’t just not do anything!”</p><p>“You can still do plenty of things without inducing a heart attack, you know.”</p><p>“Oh, I know, but—”</p><p>There was a knock on the door, and Hilda climbed off of him as the twins came in, their eyes still heavy with sleep. “What’s wrong?” asked Alaric, getting up. “Everything okay?”</p><p>“Hope had a nightmare,” said Josie as Lizzie crossed her arms, clearly displeased at having been woken up. “She seemed scared. I told her to go to her dad.”</p><p>“That was a good idea, baby,” said Hilda, going to pick the girls up and bring them over to the bed. “Did she say what it was about? Did you get scared?”</p><p>“Y-Yes,” sniffled Lizzie, frowning. “Hope said it was r-really scary.”</p><p>Hilda and Alaric shared a worried look. Typically, unsettling dreams that came to powerful witches were related with premonitions and future events that could disrupt the balance of nature.</p><p>“Hayley!”</p><p>They heard Klaus calling for Hayley, and Hilda stood up, because he sounded worried. “Let me go check on her,” she said, going downstairs. She ignored Hayley and Elijah as they moved past her, also looking worried. It was apparent that something was wrong with Hope, because she looked pale, she was shivering, and there was a sort of faraway look in her eyes.</p><p>“She’s never been sick, ever,” said Hayley worriedly once they’d laid her down and called Freya in to examine her.</p><p>“This is a magical affliction,” mused the eldest Original. “It feels… I don’t know. It’s hard to explain. Almost cold.”</p><p>The twins, who had come down by them, tried to reach for Hope, but Hilda stopped them. “Don’t try to siphon it,” she warned them. “It could hurt you.”</p><p>“Mama, it feels like your magic,” said Lizzie, looking curiously at Hope.</p><p>“What?” said Hilda, staring at them. “What do you mean?”</p><p>“You have a lot of magic,” Josie reminded her.</p><p>“So do our Aunts and Uncles.”</p><p>“This… is a lot of magic.”</p><p>“More than all of you.”</p><p>Hilda bit her lip. “Don’t siphon,” she warned them, taking their hands. “Just see what you sense.” She guided their palms to Hope, and as soon as they made contact, the twins withdrew their hands. “What did you see?”</p><p>“Blue,” said Lizzie, tilting her head to the side. “Lots of blue.”</p><p>“Dark and cold,” said Josie, looking more afraid.</p><p>Hilda looked up at her siblings. “This is dark magic,” she told them. “Blue, dark, and cold… that… that doesn’t sound very familiar.”</p><p>There was a rustling noise, and Hayley sat up, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a piece of paper. “It's from Vincent Griffith. He knows what's wrong with Hope, he can cure her. But… we have to go back to New Orleans.”</p>
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<a name="section0075"><h2>75. Chapter 75</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Hayley, Elijah, and Klaus had been gone with Hope within the hour.</strong>
</p><p>They had each packed a quick overnight bag and had gone to the rented car, driving back the way they’d come just the day before. By the next morning, Freya and Keelin had headed off as well, to help. Hilda and Alaric were going to stay at Hayley’s house with the girls, so they’d be close enough to New Orleans if they were needed.</p><p>“Is Hope really sick?” asked Josie, her eyes wide the next morning.</p><p>“She is, princess, but they’re going to make her feel better,” Hilda told her, passing the waffles around to the girls.</p><p>Lizzie huffed and crossed her arms. “It’s not fair. Why does Hope have to get sick?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” admitted Alaric. “But we want her to get better, right?”</p><p>“But only the bad guys should get sick!” said Lizzie indignantly, stomping her foot down. She started to cry, grabbing her fork and slamming it down onto the waffle. “Hope didn’t hurt anybody! She’s gonna die!” She started to slam the fork down harder, growling and kicking her legs as she continued to cry, shaking her head. “I don’t want her to die!”</p><p>Josie started to bawl, and Hilda and Alaric quickly got out of their seats to end up directly beside the twins. “Hope isn’t going to die,” said Hilda soothingly, taking Lizzie’s hands. “Let’s try to breathe. Alright? Inhale…” Lizzie forced herself to follow along. “Exhale… inhale… exhale. Good. Now, how about you tell me five things you see?”</p><p>Lizzie’s lip quivered, and she started to whimper, but she spoke, “You. Papa. Josie. The waffles. The fork.”</p><p>“Very good,” said Hilda, massaging her palms gently. “Can you tell me four things you can touch?”</p><p>“Your hands,” mumbled Lizzie, disconnecting one of their hands. She reached for her own face. “My skin.” She put her hand on Josie. “My sister.” She patted Alaric’s head. “Papa’s hair.”</p><p>“Even better,” said Hilda, moving her hands up to stroke Lizzie’s hair. “Three things you can hear?”</p><p>“Your voice. Birds. The fan.”</p><p>“Good, good. Two things you smell?”</p><p>“The jam. The syrup.”</p><p>“One thing you taste?”</p><p>“The waffle.”</p><p>Hilda pulled her in for a hug, rubbing circles on her back. “How do you feel now?”</p><p>“Sad,” she sniffled, holding on tightly to her mother. “Scared.”</p><p>“It’s okay, Lizzie,” said Josie quietly, getting out of her chair and moving to where her sister could see her face. “I’m okay. Mama’s okay. Papa’s okay. You’re okay. Hope will be okay.”</p><p>Lizzie wiped her eyes and moved back in the chair, looking at the waffle. “I don’t want it anymore,” she said sadly.</p><p>“That’s alright, princess,” said Alaric. “You want some oatmeal instead?” She nodded, and he went to make it for her.</p><p>Josie moved her chair closer to Lizzie’s continuing to eat her own waffle. When Lizzie got her oatmeal, she looked a bit happier, though still really concerned.</p><p>“Nik says that Vincent did a spell, but she’s still weak,” whispered Hilda to Alaric later in the afternoon. “The magic… it’s something called The Hollow. Freya’s never heard of it and neither have I, but Vincent seems to know about it. I need to get in touch with a few of my contacts, see what they say. This thing sounds really dangerous. I don’t know what would have happened yesterday if the twins hadn’t come to tell us about it. What if they’d tried to siphon it? They’ve been told that sometimes, they can heal magical booboos on people if they siphon.”</p><p>“Let’s just be glad they didn’t, and that they understand now that they shouldn't try it,” he said, trying to help her relax. They were sitting on the porch, watching the girls run around. Lizzie still looked sullen, but she was easing herself back into activities she liked. “I just find it strange that this thing was able to get a hold of Hope when she hasn’t even set foot in New Orleans. I mean, she hasn’t left the borders of this property since she was two.”</p><p>“That’s the problem. It seems to have an insane amount of reach. They still don’t know how exactly it managed it, but it may have something to do with the fact that she’s a tribrid. Hayley’s worried sick, and Elijah and Klaus are trying to get someone to answer for it but there doesn’t seem to be a set person responsible. They mentioned something about rogue witches and a symbol of a serpent eating its tail. The twins showed us those drawings Hope was making, and it was that exact thing. I just don’t understand it, and I hate that.”</p><p>Alaric put his arm around her. “You, darling, are absolutely brilliant, and you’re going to figure it out. I know you will. Hope is going to be okay.”</p><p>“She’s so strong, and yet so vulnerable at the same time,” she mused, resting her head on his shoulder. “I worry that people will always want to hurt her. Our daughters are powerful, too, despite their siphon nature. There is only so much protection we can grant them after a while. I spoke to Kol about it yesterday. To be safe from The Merge, one of them might need to become a Heretic. Someone could try to kill them, and if they don’t have vampire blood in their system, they’re done for. I feel like I’m going to be so powerless, Ric. </p><p>“I want to be a human again. I don’t want to live on after all of you have passed on after a natural life. The only way we could try to live longer with each other would be for me to turn all of you, but that’s not an ideal situation. I think it’s my time to be human again, instead of adding more vampires to the family. I want them to grow and be normal and safe, but I know that if I become human, I won’t be able to protect them in the same way. And yet, I want things to be normal. After such a long existence… It's time for me to really settle down, slow my progress, and find peace one day. I’ve accomplished more than I ever hoped to do. I gained control of myself. I’m going to bring back Davina and maybe Cami and have my brothers be happy. I’ve become the parent I never had and you and I, we’re going to leave a legacy with the school we’re going to found. </p><p>“I don’t want to live forever. Immortality has lost its splendor after all the goodness I found in a normal existence with you and the girls. I miss being human. If there’s even a small chance I could be a witch again, I’d take it. Rebekah’s rubbed off on me. I want to grow old with you. You made me consider things I never thought were possible. You made me want to be human again. You were the anchor that kept me in touch with my humanity. This is what I want, and I know my siblings will understand if I choose to do this. But like I said… I can’t offer the girls the same protection when I’m no longer an Original.”</p><p>He laced his fingers with hers. “How about this,” he said softly. “As soon as we find out whether the twins have to do The Merge or not… you make your choice. If they do… staying a vampire might be ideal, just until they’re twenty-two, so that your blood can save the life of whoever is meant to lose. If they don’t have to… then they’re going to be safe from the major threat to their lives, and you being human will not bring down any chaos. We’ll protect them as much as we can, always, even if they’re witches and we’re just regular mortals. There’s going to be a point where they’ll grow up… move on… and then it’s really going to be about them being independent. We’re always going to be their parents, that won’t change.”</p><p>“I want to give them the world,” she whispered. “But how can we give it to them when it’s filled with danger? I wish they could always stay this small and innocent. They’re easier to protect. I know they have to grow up. I’m just afraid that with their growth will come problems we can’t help them with.”</p><p>“Some things, they’ll have to learn the hard way,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “We can’t stop them from experiencing heartbreak and loss. But we can be there to support them through it and make sure that they internalize those experiences and channel it into seeing red flags early on… help them appreciate what they have when they have it.”</p><p>Hilda squeezed his hand. “You’re a superb father, Ric. The girls and I are blessed to have you.”</p><p>“And you’re a superb mother,” he replied.</p><p>They were still incredibly worried in the evening, but at least they learned that Hope was doing a bit better. The twins had slept between Hilda and Alaric, feeling too afraid to sleep alone in Hope’s room when she wasn’t there. They’d sang gentle lullabies to get them to fall asleep, cuddled up with their parents and teddy bears, a tiny smile on each of their faces.</p><p>The next day proved to be just as stressful, because apparently, Klaus and Marcel had been possessed by The Hollow. Freya had informed Hilda about it, and she had spent hours working on spells, which she wrote and sent to Freya to try to one, get The Hollow out of Klaus, and two, ensure it couldn’t infect him again.</p><p>“What’s with this thing being so Mary Sue?” snapped Hilda when they’d finished washing the dishes while the girls watched television. “You’re telling me that all of the sudden, this super powerful spirit is churning trouble? Every day, I think that my family’s faced its worst threats already, and every day, I’m greeted with a new thing that bitch slaps me in the face.”</p><p>Alaric laughed loudly, splashing her with some dish soap. “I know this is supposed to be serious, but you saying ‘bitch slap’ in a faded British accent is just amazing.”</p><p>She pouted. “I know, I’m losing the accent after all this time with you.”</p><p>“Ah, it’s fine, once your siblings start being around consistently again, you’ll build it back up. Plus, we might eventually get some foreign students, which means you’ll get to practice.”</p><p>“What I’m surprised about is that you don’t have a British accent. But I suppose it’s hard to keep one up when your best friend is Damon. Speaking of that, how is he?”</p><p>“Well, he finally took the cure the other day, after taking time to plan everything out. Elena’s going to graduate soon, and they’re getting things ready to go and live near where she goes to Medical School so that there’s no difficult commute. He’s happy, you know. He got the girl, the life he wanted, he has his brother, who’s never been happier, who also has his girl, and their friends are all happy and healthy, for the most part. Elena’s thinking of specializing in pediatrics, so at least we’ll have a trusted doctor who understands the supernatural, soon enough.”</p><p>Being supernatural was hard enough as it was without also struggling to get answers about things that shouldn’t even exist. Hilda had remained glued to her laptop, notebooks, and her phone, calling and trying to find out everything she could about how this stupid Hollow could be taken down. Elijah had been the one keeping her up to date on everything, and relaying any information that Vincent disclosed to him.</p><p>“I swear, I’ll murder Vincent,” Hilda muttered once the twins were asleep that night. “He knows more than he’s letting on! I know I shouldn’t be so cross about it, but he’s the one who got it out in the first place. Stupid, stupid, stupid…”</p><p>“If you want, I can punch him,” offered Alaric. “One good punch just for having let it out, then we can go back to being friends.”</p><p>She smirked. “Somehow, I don’t think Vincent will want to be ‘friends’ with any of us after this. He’s Freya’s friend, sure, but he still hates all Mikaelsons. Bummer, because he’s a talented witch, and the girls could’ve learned a lot from him.”</p><p>Each day just seemed to bring another problem. The next morning, they learned that Klaus was doing better, but Elijah had left Marcel trapped in the dungeon he’d held Klaus in, because he and Klaus had nearly killed each other. The two brothers had the apparently brilliant idea to host a party for the supernatural community of New Orleans in order to try and figure out who was aligned with The Hollow. </p><p>“At least Hope’s better,” offered Alaric when he saw Hilda was irritated.</p><p>“Yes, but they’re just opening their doors to people who could try to mark them with dark magic. I can’t say I had a better strategy, but still…”</p><p>That night had ended up being used for stress relief. They’d helped the twins fall asleep in one of the other guest rooms, and when they were tucked in, the couple had returned to their room.</p><p>“What’s the point of calling it ‘stress relief’ if you’re going to do all the work?” Alaric groaned when Hilda pinned him onto the bed, her lips already attached to his neck.</p><p>Hilda sat up, making a face. “I’m doing the work to relieve the stress. It’s self explanatory.” She grinded her hips into his, making him close his eyes, his hands moving to her thighs. “I prefer it like this, anyway.”</p><p>He let out a weak chuckle as she peeled off her shirt. “Why, because you know you won’t have to perform CPR if I go into cardiac arrest?”</p><p>“Because,” she purred, yanking his shirt off, “I know you get more aroused when I’m on top. You prefer to see me making all the moves to please myself with you. It’s more erotic. And before you ask how I know, it’s all in the heartbeat.” She scooted down to be able to pull her jeans off. “Which means that I know exactly when you’re being overexerted. You really think I’d just let you die?”</p><p>He let out a breathy laugh, though it stopped abruptly and became more of a gasp when she slid her hand down his pants. “I-I guess you wouldn’t....”</p><p>“Exactly,” she said, smirking and unbuckling his pants. </p><p>“That just gave me flashbacks to something Damon used to say,” he said, looking down at her as she started her work. “Fuck… he said you would be a total dominatrix in the bedroom, and I never believed him.”</p><p>“Is that so bad?” she said, batting her eyelashes. “The only pain you get is when I feed off of you.”</p><p>“No, it’s not bad at all,” he gulped, arching his neck back. “It’s fucking amazing.”</p><p>This had been the perfect way of ensuring Hilda’s emotions didn’t get out of control. Taking control of simple situations and distracting herself had always been the way she ensured she didn’t lose her mind and attack someone. Alaric was perfectly satisfied with his role in it. Though he was obviously self-conscious due to his lack of stamina with his age, being a human, Hilda never let him feel bad, and reminded him that he was still playing a major role in her pleasure, which was what he was concerned with. </p><p>“You’re going to kill me one of these days,” he panted after she’d flopped down beside him. “I swear, I see stars every time you do that thing…”</p><p>She grinned triumphantly. “That sounds like a nice way to go out, doesn’t it?”</p><p>“Are you kidding? At the hands of my incredibly hot to-be-wife? Hell yes.”</p><p>She wiped her mouth, since she still had some of his blood smeared on it. “Like I said, I can hear your heart perfect well, and I know when it’s gone too far.”</p><p>He looked over at her, a more serious look on her face. “So what are we going to do when you’re human? Do I get a vasectomy?”</p><p>She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Huh?”</p><p>“Well, I’m assuming, but I would think that when you become human, you can get pregnant again. I don’t think either of us are looking to have more kids, especially since we’re going to be surrounded by kids for the foreseeable future at the school. I’m already… physically forty-three and even if you’re only going to be physically seventeen… by the time you become human again…”</p><p>“We could just get a witch to do a spell.”</p><p>He snorted. “Just as long as it’s not Freya, because I don’t know how I can look her in the eyes and be like, ‘Hey, can you help us with a contraceptive spell so I don’t surprise your sister with a baby again?’”</p><p>Hilda muffled her laughter in her pillow. “No one said you had to tell her that way! But I bet, even if you did, Freya would be incredibly indifferent. From what I hear, things with her and Keelin are getting interesting. She might be thinking along the same lines, soon. Freya loves kids, but she probably doesn’t want any of her own, yet.”</p><p>“You think this thing with her and Keelin is going to work? I knew your sister was good looking but I didn’t think she could get someone to like her after she kidnapped them.”</p><p>Hilda tried to stop laughing, but it was becoming difficult. “Oh, please, you have to tell her that to her face, I’ll pay you to do it!”</p><p>“No way! She’ll fry my brain in two seconds and then we won’t have to worry about you killing me during sex.”</p><p>“Hey, Damon would tell you to be very appreciative that you’re dying during sex and not a fight with vampires.”</p><p>“Maybe I should ask for the Gilbert ring back,” he said teasingly. “Kidding, kidding, I don’t want to revisit the days of me… randomly killing people without realizing I was doing it. That was another level of embarrassment when I found out.”</p><p>“Ooh, I think it was more brutal when you daggered me that day we met, because your friends were trying to take down Klaus. Good thing they didn’t manage it, otherwise the Salvatores and Caroline would be dead. Maybe Enzo, too. I’d think he and the Heretics would be from Klaus’s bloodline.”</p><p>Alaric covered his face. “I still feel bad about that! I didn’t know you at the time and it just felt like the right thing to do in the moment.”</p><p>“No, it’s alright, I forgive you for it. Nothing can compare to the day I was daggered after I called you and told you that my mother’s torture had left me all sorts of messed up. Nik may be nicer now, but that day forever haunts me.”</p><p>“Look on the bright side, Klaus will never dagger you again. And the girls will never have to know about daggers, either.”</p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes, moving back on top of him. “What about you?” she said teasingly. “Kidding. I’m not into knifeplay. Yet.”</p><p>He raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me— <em>yet?</em> You’re the one with magically healing skin.”</p><p>She winked. “Does that mean you’re going to try it on me?”</p><p>“I’d be an idiot to try and hold up a knife to you, Hilda.” He pecked her cheek. “What I am into, is getting to do some of the work.” He rolled them so he was on top of her, and she giggled as he trailed more kisses down her neck. “What I regret is not having done this when I was a vampire.”</p><p>“Oh please, I don’t think I could have handled that,” she said honestly. “You were stronger than me, and I’ve never been with someone stronger than me. I’d have been terrified.”</p><p>“Then you’ll be pleased to know that you’ll still be stronger than me when you’re a human. Hooray for you.” He lifted her legs, very ready to start off the second round.</p><p>They were laughing even more after that. This was normal for them. They were so comfortable with each other that they could lay alongside each other, completely naked, and have a conversation about a completely different topic. They teased and joked and appreciated the other’s presence, all while feeling incredible relief.</p><p>The following morning, Hilda’s phone had rang, revealing a very worried Hayley.</p><p>“I think you might need to come down,” she told her quietly. “We’re finding out about these— these four bones from The Hollow’s original body that couldn’t be destroyed. They were distributed to four werewolf families. We have one, and we believe The Hollow has the other. There are two more to find, and I was thinking you could try to contact Tyler Lockwood. His family kept records about a lot of things, and they may know who has the other bones.”</p><p>Alaric had phoned Tyler soon after, and had found out that Hayley was right. The Lockwoods had one of the bones— from The Hollow’s finger. The other bone— a femur— was buried with someone who had been a Del Robles, buried at the Black Clay Cemetery in the Tremé. Elijah and Marcel had gone to get a headstart on that bone, and Hilda had bade Alaric and the girls a temporary goodbye to go and retrieve the bone from Tyler before making her way to New Orleans.</p><p>“I’ll be back soon, my darlings,” she whispered to the girls, kissing their heads gently before standing up and kissing Alaric, letting her lips linger on his for a few seconds. “Take care, please.”</p><p>“We’ll be waiting here for you,” he told her, pulling her in for another hug. “Be safe.”</p><p>“I’ll be alright,” she replied before speeding off, hoping that this wouldn’t be the last time she saw them.</p><p>
  <em>A/N: Not meant to be suspenseful. Mostly a fluffy/subtly smutty chapter for some normalcy, I guess. Almost at the end! Probably just two more chapters— one with content, one as the epilogue. Thanks!</em>
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<a name="section0076"><h2>76. Chapter 76</h2></a>
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  <strong>Hilda hated The Hollow.</strong>
</p><p>“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she sneered as her car broke down as she entered the New Orleans city limits.</p><p>Everything had been going fine before that. She’d driven to Mystic Falls, said her hellos to the group and acquired the bone from Tyler. The hours in the car were tolerable because she really thought they were one step ahead of The Hollow, which meant they had a chance at defeating it, especially since they’d learned that the spirit was a distant Labonair.</p><p>No such luck. </p><p>The engine started to smoke, and Hilda pulled over, thinking it was just that they hadn’t had the car fixed in awhile. But when she saw the woman from the Lafayette Cemetery approaching her, she knew it wasn’t an accident.</p><p>“You’re Sofya, right?” she said, climbing out of the car. “Marcel’s girl?”</p><p>The woman had a cold stare unlike how she had been before. “Give me the bone,” she said, her eyes glowing blue.</p><p>Hilda put her hands on her hips. “There are millions of bones to pick from. Aren’t you an all powerful witch? Maybe you should have just found your bones before we did. It’s your own poor form that leaves you in such a shabby state. You’re more incompetent than you think. I hear you have a god complex, or something.”</p><p>The woman raised her hands, and Hilda’s body was lifted off of the ground. She tried to resist the spell, but that was a more difficult feat than she’d been anticipating. This thing had stronger magic than any creature she’d faced up to date.</p><p>“Perhaps I can’t kill you,” The Hollow said darkly as she moved forward, slamming Hilda back into the ground. It seemed like she’d been magnetized to stick onto the Earth, because it was even harder to try and get up. “But I can kill those little girls of yours. They’ve been safe for now.”</p><p>“Well, there’s one thing you need to know,” panted Hilda, feeling the spell letting up slightly as The Hollow looked through the car for the bone. She forced herself to reach under the car, tugging hard at one of the hoses underneath it. “I don’t let people hurt my family.”</p><p>The car exploded, and Hilda did her best to shield her face as pieces of it rained all around her. She scrambled to her feet, not seeing The Hollow anymore, and started to run, but the woman had survived the blast, and ended up in front of her.</p><p>“I should have known you put it in your pocket,” she said, swiping her hand out and making Hilda croak out, holding her chest as she felt her heart starting to get ripped out. “I guess I’ll just have to delay you a bit. Your siblings won’t miss you.”</p><p>“I’ll tear you to pieces!” Hilda snarled, trying to stop her heart from flying out. </p><p>The Hollow smirked. “It’ll be difficult for you to do that when you’re regrowing your heart. Your lack of cooperation will be remembered. As soon as I get back in my body, I’ll make sure you find those two little girls dead on your bathroom floor.” She coiled her fingers with more force, and Hilda let out a sharp grunt, holding her own chest so furiously that her entire face was contorted in pure pain. The Hollow walked forward and reached into her jacket pocket, extracting the finger bone, before speeding away.</p><p>The Original collapsed on the ground, shaking and coughing and feeling her heart thumping hard in her chest as it tried to get adjusted again. “Damn it,” she said, reaching for her phone and dialing Elijah’s number. “Please tell me he got the other stupid bone!” she hissed to herself as the line rang. Elijah didn’t answer, and the call went to voicemail. “She got the bone, Elijah, and she’s making threats that have her walking on a very thin line. I’ll rip that bitch to shreds and she’ll wish she never tried to cross this family. Call me back as soon as you get this.”</p><p>She got back to her feet, cursing angrily and speeding the rest of the way to the Compound, leaving the car smoldering behind her. When she arrived, she found it empty, and it unsettled her to know that not even Hope was there. She tried to call Hayley and Klaus, but they didn’t pick up either.</p><p>“Where the bloody hell are they?” she said, tapping her foot anxiously, now calling Freya. “Hello? Where are all of you?”</p><p>“Keelin and I making our way home,” Freya panted. “We ran into a problem.”</p><p>“Not surprised. What was it?”</p><p>“Well, Elijah and Marcel went to get the bone, but The Hollow got to them first. I assume they tried to call you, but she must have jammed the signal.”</p><p>Hilda swore loudly. “Perfect!” she said sarcastically. “No wonder she was so determined, she already had two of the bones before she came after me! The only one left is this filthy mandible surrounded in salt by the staircase. Where are the others?”</p><p>“We found them,” said Freya. “Apparently, in order to trap The Hollow, there would need to be a tremendous source of power— the type created with the death of an Original. Davina, somehow, got involved, and she was going to kill Klaus.”</p><p>“What? Is— is he okay?”</p><p>“Hope saved him. Klaus is ahead of us, he’s likely going to compel the finest chef to make her a feast for tomorrow morning to show his gratitude. We’ll be there soon, I promise. Elijah and Hayley are making their way separately with Hope.”</p><p>At least, this eased some of Hilda’s worry. When she hung up, she dialed Alaric’s number immediately. “Ric,” she said, tugging at the strings on her blouse. “I think you and the girls need to get back to Mystic Falls where you’ll be safe.”</p><p>“What happened?” he asked. As she finished explaining it to him, she could hear him moving around and assembling everything he and the girls would need. “Got it. We’ll head back so at least we’re not isolated here with no one to help.”</p><p>“Drive fast but safely,” she begged, rubbing her forehead. “Please. I don’t want you to get hurt.”</p><p>“I’m more concerned about you. Are you going to be okay over there?”</p><p>She fiddled with the necklace he’d given her. “I’m going to be fine. We’re going to take this thing down, and I’ll be there with you soon. Please, give the girls a kiss for me. I’ll update you. I love you.”</p><p>“I love you too, Hilda. Stay safe.”</p><p>Davina had been unsuccessful in killing Klaus, but upon arrival, the group still looked quite glum, and Hilda wasn’t sure why. She then learned that Elijah had offered himself up to die in Klaus’s place, which left Hayley feeling quite unhappy.</p><p>Hope, on the other hand, was adoring all the praise from her father after she rescued him. It was becoming clear just how powerful she really was whenever she took off the little bracelet that Davina had spelled for her all those years ago.</p><p>Hilda didn’t sleep well. She missed Alaric, she missed the twins, and she was paranoid. The Hollow was more powerful than what she could have expected, and it worried her that they might have finally met their match. They’d thought Dahlia was bad, but even she wasn’t so psychotic.</p><p>In the morning, she awoke to the smell of goodness. She could smell pastries galore downstairs, and smiled to herself, knowing that Klaus had indeed prepared a feast for his little girl. She’d just been about to make her way down when Hayley stopped her.</p><p>“Have you seen Elijah?” she asked worriedly. “He didn’t come home last night.”</p><p>“Er— no. I didn’t hear anyone come in or out at all. Where did he go?”</p><p>“He went to give Marcel this blade that Freya and Keelin made that can kill him. I just… I think something happened.”</p><p>Hilda pursed her lips. “Let’s go talk to Klaus, maybe he knows.”</p><p>They moved downstairs, and along the way, they heard Klaus talking to Hope.</p><p>“Did I ever tell you the story of my first beignet?” he said. “No? You are in for a treat. Long ago, three French nuns came to New Orleans looking for a fresh start. And they came here. They marched right into our courtyard, and they presented your Uncle Elijah and me with these rather lumpy-looking, sugar-coated pastries. Well, needless to say, we were entranced. We set them up quite well.”</p><p>“Why did they come to you?” asked Hope curiously. </p><p>“Because there was a time when we were regarded as royalty. You might even go so far as to say I was king, which would make you a princess. Your Aunt Hilly and Aunt Bex were princesses, too..” he looked up as he saw his sister coming down, and grinned. “But everyone was scared of your Aunt Hilly, they thought she was intimidating.”</p><p>Hope giggled. “Well, she has a prince now— Uncle Ric.”</p><p>Hilda smiled, and Hayley moved forward, examining all the pastries. “Good morning. I guess apple turnover is fruit.”</p><p>Klaus was pleased with her reaction. “Well, I saw no harm in indulging our daughter's sweet tooth. All things in moderation, of course.”</p><p>Hayley nodded, deciding to allow it. “Okay. Don't eat too many. You'll get a stomachache. Can we talk?” She led Klaus off to the side, and Hilda sat beside Hope.</p><p>“Here,” said Hope, handing her a beignet. “Have Liz and Jo tried these?”</p><p>“Not yet,” said Hilda, taking a bite. “But soon. Once it’s safe, they can come here and try them with you.” She looked up as Hayley and Klaus both shared a grave look. Clearly, Elijah was still nowhere to be found.</p><p>“I’m going to speak to Marcel,” announced Klaus, coming to kiss his daughter on the cheek before speeding off.</p><p>“I’ll text Freya,” said Hilda, getting to her feet. “I think she might be able to do a Locator Spell.”</p><p>But the Locator Spell had been a bust. Freya had tried it, even while channeling Hilda, and nothing had appeared. “<em>Jälgida minu blóo mitt. Jälgida minu blóo mitt,” </em>Freya muttered, staring down at the blood which refused to move over the map.</p><p>“He’s cloaked for sure,” murmured Hilda, stepping off to the side. “It has to be.”</p><p>There was a clattering sound, and the three women went rigid, turning to the small table where The Hollow’s mandible resided inside a ring of salt. It was spinning around, and as they approached it to examine it, Vincent Griffith walked through the doorway.</p><p>“That’s her,” he said. “That’s The Hollow. She has Elijah, and now she wants the bone.”</p><p>“In exchange for Elijah?” Hayley asked.</p><p>Vincent shook his head. “No, you don't understand. There won't be an exchange. She needs Elijah to die in order to channel the energy from his sacrifice. She's already poisoned him with the rose thorns. She wants this bone by sundown. If she doesn't get it, then she's gonna come here and she's gonna take it. And when she does, she's gonna burn this entire city to the ground.”</p><p>Hilda put her hands on her hips. “Well, we’re not going to let that happen. Please tell me you have a plan.”</p><p>He nodded. “I do. Get your brother here, and tell him to bring Marcel.”</p><p>Hilda pulled her phone out immediately, sending Klaus a message. The group moved to the lounge, where there was more room for them all to sit down. As soon as Klaus and Marcel arrived, the group (minus Vincent) sat and let the witch speak.</p><p>“You want a plan of attack, it comes down to this,” he said, pacing as he began to explain. “We use the element of surprise. Now, Marcel will hand over the bone, and then stab the Hollow with Hayley's blood, and then I'm gonna cast the spell that buries her.”</p><p>Hayley held her hand up. “Wait. The Ancestors' spell requires a sacrifice. An Original has to die.”</p><p>“Yeah, and right now, The Hollow is gonna use Elijah's death to come back, but there's a window where I can use the sacrifice to shove her back into her grave.”</p><p>Klaus scoffed. “You'll forgive me for stating the obvious, but your plan does nothing to save my brother. In fact, it relies entirely upon his death.”</p><p>“Easy,” said Marcel, motioning for him to stand down. “He’s just trying to help.”</p><p>“But it’s true, isn’t it?” said Hilda. “Elijah has to die for this to work.”</p><p>“Elijah is already dead,” Vincent reasoned. “Now, the only thing that we can do right now is figure out whether or not that death is gonna count for something.”</p><p>Hayley frowned. “That's not a call any of us get to make. Especially not you. There has to be a way to save him.”</p><p>Klaus looked over at his elder sister. “Freya, you still have the antidote we used to cure Marcel's bite?”</p><p>The Mikaelson witch assented. “I have it, yes. But I don't know if it'll work against the poison of the rosebush.”</p><p>Vincent clapped his hands together to get their attention. “You guys aren't listening, okay? Even if we do cure Elijah, we still have a big problem, that's called The Hollow. And it's just gonna keep coming at us until it resurrects. And when that happens, we're talking about an ancient, primal power that's made flesh and blood. It will wipe out this entire city in an afternoon, and ain't a damn thing that you or anybody else here can do about it. Now, my way? We take her out while she's still a spirit. Elijah dies, but at least his death counts for something.”</p><p>“Is there even a guarantee she’s going to be put down for good?” asked Hilda. “You were saying that she was trapped before, like this, and yet she still got out, didn’t she?”</p><p>Klaus got to his feet. “That’s it. I’m not willing to discuss this any further.”</p><p>“What about your little girl?” snapped Vincent. “This thing wiped out the entire Labonair bloodline. It already got to Hope once, right? Now, this is a chance, Klaus. This is probably the one chance that you got. Now you want to blow that opportunity to maybe save your brother, or do you want to do your job and save your little girl? Hilda already said it wants to come after her kids, too!”</p><p>Klaus growled, jabbing a finger in Vincent’s direction. “Don’t use my daughter and my nieces to justify your absurd plan!”</p><p>“Hey!” said Marcel, standing up and blocking his path to Vincent. “His ‘absurd’ plan is the only plan that we’ve got. So maybe we should do a little less fighting, and a little more thinking.”</p><p>Hilda held out her hands to stop them both. “We’ll use his plan as a basis, but we have to refine every last detail. The blood, you say, to stab her with? Labonair blood? Why not combine Hayley and Hope’s blood? The last two Labonairs— it’ll be more lethal. We don’t need to take too much of Hope’s blood, just enough to bathe the knife in.”</p><p>Freya massaged her chin. “And there’s always a loophole, we know that. I have my mother’s grimoires. I welcome you to study them with me, Vincent. We have to find a way to save Elijah.”</p><p>“We could transfer him to another body in the meantime,” offered Hilda. “We could link him to me again, and when he dies, he’ll be able to come back.”</p><p>“That won’t work,” said Vincent. “The Hollow might be able to corrupt that spell and use it to kill you, too, and then she’ll have more than enough power to come back.”</p><p>Freya’s eyes widened. “The pendant!” She rushed to a cabinet off to the side and pulled out her blue necklace where she had previously preserved Finn. “I can put Elijah’s spirit in the pendant!” She looked up at the witch beside her. “Vincent, you said the Ancestors can imprison The Hollow, and to power their spell, an Original must die. If Elijah is going to die one way or another, we should harness his death, and then I can try placing his soul inside the pendant.”</p><p>“Try?” exclaimed Hayley. “What do you mean,<em> try?”</em></p><p>Freya bit her lip. “Well, it won't be easy. We have to find him, and I'll need all of my magic. And Elijah's been poisoned for some time, there's... a chance he won't survive the process.”</p><p>Klaus looked over at them. “But I would survive,” he murmured.</p><p>Hilda frowned. “Klaus, no—”</p><p>“Yes,” he told her. “If I'm the sacrifice, you can channel my death to imprison The Hollow before she kills Elijah. Yes, I'll be in the pendant, but the rest of you can find him, cure him, and bring him home.” He looked at his sisters. “You both know sufficient magic to put me back in my body.”</p><p>“We do, Klaus, but it’s a risk either way, and if the antidote doesn’t work on Elijah, he might still die, and it might just be a waste!”</p><p>Hayley was holding her head. “This is insane.”</p><p>“That evil wench cannot be killed,” said Klaus, insistent. “Left unchecked, she will come for Hope. Sacrifice me, we can save Elijah and we can defeat this thing. I know the antidote will work. It's the only way. We don't have time to debate this. Work your magic, my sisters. It's gonna be okay.”</p><p>Hilda and Freya weren’t all that sure about it, but they didn’t have any other choice now that Klaus had made up his mind.</p><p>Hayley took care of gathering her own blood and Hope’s for the knife that Marcel would use. Freya and Hilda worked first on refining the antidote for Elijah, then on the spell that Vincent would use to sacrifice Klaus.</p><p>“Here,” said Freya, handing Hilda the pendant when nightfall came. “Let Vincent channel you to place Klaus inside of it. I need to be with Hayley, healing Elijah. Please, sister, I know that you do not wish to indulge in violence anymore, but if anyone gets in your way…”</p><p>“I’ll slaughter them,” she confirmed, putting the pendant on. “I promise, Freya, it’ll be fine. We’ll imprison the bitch. I think I know of a way we can quite literally shred her spirit to ensure she can’t ever escape again. But we need this to work, so you need to do everything you can to ensure Elijah is healed.”</p><p>She headed to the Lafayette Cemetery to meet Vincent and Klaus, bringing with her a bag of dark objects that would help magnify the spell and ensure it went into completion. She put her hand on her brother’s shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile as Vincent led them to the main altar where, years ago, Hope had nearly been sacrificed as a baby.</p><p>“Well, go on, your silence is deafening,” Klaus muttered when Vincent still hadn’t spoken. “Say it.”</p><p>“Say what, exactly?” asked the witch as Hilda started to set up the materials for the spell.</p><p>“That my impending execution pleases you. There's no shame in taking pleasure in finally felling a long-standing foe. ‘The man who killed Klaus Mikaelson.’ That'll make a lovely epitaph on your tombstone. May be engraved sooner than you think, if things don't go our way.”</p><p>Vincent sighed. “The truth is, Klaus, I never thought I'd live to see this day. See, growing up in New Orleans as kids, we— we hear stories about the evil Klaus Mikaelson.”</p><p>Klaus rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, and now I'll finally reap my just desserts.”</p><p>“No. I was gonna say, here you are, finally living up to the potential that Cami saw in you. She would've been proud.”</p><p>Klaus’s expression softened, and Hilda squeezed his hand as she motioned for him to lay down on the altar. Vincent spread herbs and salt around his body as Hilda placed the dark objects at the four corners of the altar, placing a few near the two torches on either side of them. The Original hybrid didn’t speak, but Hilda knew that Vincent’s comment about Cami had left him thinking of her, which at least seemed to bring him some comfort.</p><p>“How much longer?” he asked quietly.</p><p>“We’re almost there,” said Vincent, holding up the thorns made from Marcel’s venom. “Once I scratch you with the thorns, I'll stake you in the heart to end things quick and painless. The Ancestors are gonna help me with everything else.”</p><p>There were footsteps, and they looked up to see several men had arrived, holding a knife to a woman that Hilda didn’t recognize, though she seemed to be someone Vincent knew. “Might reconsider, Vincent,” said the man with the knife, holding the terrified woman in a way she couldn’t escape. “Or else your friend dies.”</p><p>“Oh, you’ve got to be joking!” said Klaus in exasperation as he sat up. “Don’t hesitate, kill me now!”</p><p>“If you’re so eager to die,” replied the man, “be patient. Once The Hollow rises, she'll kill you herself.”</p><p>Vincent’s hands trembled as he tried to stop the man from hurting the woman. “You don't have to do this. I mean, we're all New Orleans witches here, right?”</p><p>“You talk of witches as you make deals with vampires! It’s because of them that we need The Hollow!”</p><p>“Please, man, she’s never gonna save you!” pleaded Vincent. “She’s just gonna damn you to hell.”</p><p>Klaus and Hilda shared a look before they both cracked their knuckles. “Okay, enough talk,” said Klaus, his eyes flashing gold as he and Hilda launched themselves at the men.</p><p>Their speed was unmatched. Hilda snatched the woman off to safety before the man could react, and sliced off his head with one clever swipe of her hand. Klaus grabbed another two but their throats, slamming them into the tombs. Vincent thrust his hand out, snapping the neck of the other men.</p><p>“Quick!” said Vincent, looking up at the position of the moon. “It needs to happen now— Maxine, please, I could use your help.”</p><p>Klaus ran back to the altar, laying down as Hilda finished off the last of the men. The other witch, apparently Maxine, went to Vincent, letting him take her hand. They began to chant, the torches flaring up on either side of them. Hilda went to hold her brother’s hand, holding out the pendant with her free hand as Vincent brought the thorns against Klaus’s neck, slicing in a bit and making the hybrid hiss in pain as he felt the venom flood into him. Vincent then took the prepared stake and stabbed it into his heart. Immediately, he and Maxine grabbed onto Hilda’s hands, beginning the spell that would ensure Klaus was placed safely into the pendant.</p><p>As soon as it glowed blue, the entire cemetery began to tremble. “Marcel took her down,” Vincent said. “This is the big one. We’re going to trap her.”</p><p>One last time, the three linked hands, an entirely different spell spilling out. It wasn’t even necessary to channel Hilda anymore, but it added to the power of the spell. There was a flash of blue light that made Hilda shut her eyes quickly, and the sound of an anguished scream before the air cleared, as if the pressure around them had changed.</p><p>“I have an idea,” panted Hilda, looking around at the cemetery, which looked unnaturally calm. “To break her into pieces.” She looked up at Vincent. “What if we took fragments of her and used it for other spells? We can create the smallest of portals, using her energy for other things to ensure she can’t ever get herself back together again. There’s no way The Hollow is unlimited. If we did a series of really major spells…”</p><p>Vincent pursed his lips. “You know what? I think you might be onto something….”</p>
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<a name="section0077"><h2>77. Epilogue</h2></a>
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    <p>
  <strong>Harnessing The Hollow’s power was easily the hardest thing they’d ever done.</strong>
</p><p>But they managed it.</p><p>With the help of Valerie Tulle and Bonnie Bennett, they were able to break off pieces, little by little, and use the magic for important rituals and renovations around New Orleans first, to undo the damage The Hollow had done when it tried to rise.</p><p>Their first task was to put Klaus back into his own body, which had been simpler than expected, what with Freya having Hope help out. Their second task had been to bring back Davina. Kol had been overjoyed to have her back, but before anything, they’d had Hope and Freya unlink Davina from any traces of The Hollow’s magic, to ensure she couldn’t be corrupted. Hilda, of course, was the maid of honor at their wedding.</p><p>As a surprise to Klaus, Hilda and Freya had orchestrated for Cami to be brought back as well. They had been greeted with an unexpected surprise. Cami had found peace, and in that peace, she had reunited with her brother. When they had performed the spell to bring her back, Sean O’Connell had followed suit, which had been confusing at first. Since Cami had returned as a human, and not as a vampire, there were many things that needed to be discussed and arranged to ensure her brother became aware of the supernatural world and could remain safe. Rebekah had been the one to encourage Klaus to finally take Cami out on a proper date. After all that he had been through, he didn’t back out of it.</p><p>Before performing any other resurrections, they had done a different spell to attempt to reach out to the other people on their list: Jackson, Finn, and Aiden. Jackson had been fine where he was, as he didn’t want to come in conflict with Hayley and Elijah. Despite Hilda insisting that it was really no trouble to bring him back, he felt happy getting to see his fallen Pack members again, especially Oliver. He also mentioned that he wanted to wait there, for Mary, since her time would come soon.</p><p>Aiden had been brought back as a surprise to Josh, who had probably experienced his first minor heart attack ever, despite his vampiric state. Finn had been returned next, though they had altered the spell to bring him back as a human. At long last, he felt like he belonged in his own body, and he’d been pleased to meet Keelin. To no one’s surprise, he had walked Freya down the aisle on the day that she married her. He told them how he had learned that when they died as humans, they would be able to see their brother Henrik again.</p><p>This had been the inspiration for the next spell, though that required the utmost precision and effort, and was one that none of the Mikaelsons thought they’d ever see performed. It took years of planning, which meant that in the meantime, Hilda got to focus on her work in the Salvatore School.</p><p>She adored being a teacher. She had been afraid her students wouldn’t respect her, but rather than be frightened of who she was, they were fascinated, and were constantly asking her questions about her travels and the different spells that she knew. She taught the vampires about self control in the way she wished she’d been taught. She made them feel secure about admitting when they needed support.</p><p>Not long after they’d opened the school, there had been a problem that nearly earned the expulsion of three of the students. A witch named Wendy, a werewolf named Diego, and a vampire named Jade had killed five Mystic Falls High School students one night, and when Alaric and Hilda had received word of it, they’d spoken to them, but none of them appeared to show any remorse, and it didn’t seem like they were telling the real story either.</p><p>“Here’s how this is going to work,” said Hilda, sitting across from Jade. “I’m not stupid, I can tell when a vampire has their humanity off. I’m also an Original, and that means I can compel you to tell the truth, or I can see into your mind and witness the event myself. Do you want to fess up, or should I resort to one of my two options?”</p><p>Jade instantly knew she’d made a mistake in not having taken vervain before coming into the interrogation. When she’d refused to speak, Hilda had gone into her mind.</p><p>Alaric had never seen Hilda look so calm in such a situation. She had knelt down in front of Jade and pulled her into a hug, which surprised him, because he didn’t know what she’d seen in the teenage girl’s mind. As it turned out, the three had never meant to kill anyone. Their supernatural abilities were difficult to control, and when triggered, they had brought down destruction, and had tried to get rid of the evidence.</p><p>That day, they had started an after school program for the students so that they could all learn self control. Diego, Jade, and Wendy hadn’t been expelled. Instead, they had been given the support they needed in the first place.</p><p>Meanwhile, Hope and the twins were thriving. They felt accepted and important, what with their Mikaelson affiliations. Their power wasn’t suppressed, rather, embraced and understood to its full potential. The day Hope had accidentally triggered her werewolf side, she’d had Hayley and Klaus there to support her, and her power had only magnified.</p><p>When the twins had turned ten, Lizzie had been officially diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It had been difficult for her to adjust to the medication, and Alaric hadn’t known how he could ease her discomfort.</p><p>He was grateful that the girls had Hilda and Kol. The Mikaelson twins got together with Lizzie every other weekend to attend group therapy. On weekends when Kol couldn’t make it, Hilda urged Alaric and Josie to accompany her and Lizzie. Alaric couldn’t have wished for a better mother for Lizzie. Often, she would grow overwhelmed and start to criticize herself, thinking she was defective and broken. Hilda had helped her see that this wasn’t true. In attending therapy alongside her daughter, Lizzie got to understand just how much her mother related to her. Hilda was open about her perspective, and it left Lizzie feeling more comfortable with her own body and mind. Her Uncle Kol was always making himself available to talk to her, and with Alaric and Josie’s support, she was able to go through school without feeling abnormal. </p><p>In Alaric’s opinion, Hilda was probably the greatest mother in the world. She was the parent that she’d never had. She channeled all the pain and resentment that lingered from memories of her mother and father, and used it to be better. She was patient and understanding, she let the twins express themselves, and never made the twins feel like they had to hide anything. She was the parent she wished she and Kol had had, when they’d been turned. She recalled those vulnerable moments when they had been seventeen and newly turned. They’d needed their parents’ support after discovering their mental illness and they’d never received it. Hilda ensured the twins didn’t feel alone or misunderstood, and helped them learn magic that strengthened them.</p><p>When the twins had turned thirteen, Hilda and Alaric had sat down with them to tell them about their biological mother, Josette. They recognized the name from the childhood stories of ‘Princess Jo,’ and despite their youth, they had been able to understand everything. Hilda had been afraid that they’d stop seeing her as their mother, but instead, she’d been greeted with warmth.</p><p>“What’s this for?” she asked gently when Josie and Lizzie had pulled her into a tight hug.</p><p>“For being our Mama, even when you didn’t have to,” whispered Josie.</p><p>“You’re always going to be our mother,” added Lizzie. “No matter what.”</p><p>They had used more of The Hollow’s magic to contact Jo after this. It had been difficult, since she’d been at peace for far longer than the others they’d resurrected, but when they’d gotten through to her, she’d been thrilled with the opportunity.</p><p>“I would really love to meet my girls,” she told them, tears in her eyes. She looked between Hilda and Alaric and drew a deep breath. “But... I don’t want to take them away from you.”</p><p>“They’d love to meet you,” said Hilda quietly. “You wouldn’t be taking them away. They know all about you.”</p><p>Jo had shaken her head, letting out a sigh. “Here, I’m with my family. I’m happy. My entire Coven is together again and we’re making amends. I… I would rather wait here. One day, I’ll see them again. I know that for certain.”</p><p>Alaric and Jo, at least, had gotten to say a proper goodbye. Jo had taken Hilda’s hands and squeezed them tightly. “Thank you, for being such a wonderful mother to my girls,” she whispered. “Until we see each other again.”</p><p>With her blessing, Hilda and Alaric had gotten married. Kol had been the one that walked her down the narrow aisle at the courthouse, and they had celebrated for the entire night, seeing the environment bringing to light more romance and happiness. Kol and Davina were happy, as were Klaus and Cami, Freya and Keelin, Hayley and Elijah, and even Marcel and Rebekah.</p><p>Eventually, the time came to perform the last major spell to be rid of the majority of The Hollow’s magic. It had been done just days after Kol confirmed that the twins would never have to Merge.</p><p>Rebekah, Hilda, and Kol, with their hands linked, had stood, feeling the magic being channeled into their bodies to wash away the spell that Esther had placed on them one thousand years ago. Their vampiric nature was washed away, and for the twins, it became the day they were finally healed. Their lives had been linked to their partners— neither Davina nor Alaric would age until Kol and Hilda caught up, physically, having to build up from their seventeen year old selves. It ensured that when they died a mortal death, they would die together, to never have to live a day without their love.</p><p>The Hollow was left so broken that there was no hope it could ever reform. Half of the remaining magic had been left trapped by the Ancestors, and the other half had been locked away in a prison world, preserved, in case Klaus or Elijah ever wanted to become human.</p><p>“You okay?” whispered Alaric to Hilda, one night many years later, when they lay in each other’s arms, already having watched their daughters become adults.</p><p>“I’m fine,” she told him, reaching to cup his face. “I was thinking. We all managed to be happy. In situations we never expected to be in.”</p><p>He kissed the top of her head. “I admit, I never thought I’d find myself here, growing old with an ex-Original vampire.”</p><p>Hilda let out a soft giggle, squeezing his hand. “Don’t be silly. I’ll forever be an Original.”</p><p>Forever Original, and finally included in ‘Always and Forever.’</p>
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<a name="section0078"><h2>78. Final Author's Note</h2></a>
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    <p>Thank you to all who stuck with this story until the very end. I’m beyond thankful for your support in Hilda’s journey, and I’m glad I was able to give everyone their happy ending even if it meant I rushed it to move on to my next story (oops, there goes my impulsive nature again).</p><p>In the future, I will most likely be writing a Kai Parker story (heavily considering a hero to villain trope for my OC). Please be on the lookout for that.</p><p>Without further ado, here is:</p><p>
  <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30269268">Dark Moon</a>
</p><p>Mischief Managed,</p><p>Sprinting Fox</p>
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